


Cross-steps

by varevare (varebanos)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Keith is suffering, Korean-American Keith (Voltron), Lance gets roasted, Lance is a fool, Langst but just a bit, M/M, Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Rated T for minor swearing only, a shit ton of fluff, alcohol use, longboarding, more characters to be added as they show up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-08-29 05:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8477782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/varebanos/pseuds/varevare
Summary: Lance runs into a longboarding youtube channel. The next day, he runs into the owner of said channel.Of course, now he's going to learn to ride even if it kills him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The video Lance finds (and this whole fic) is based on [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRV4msmCCcg)  
> [This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ouYIW8LRns) is the kind of music he's listening to at the beggining  
> And [this](https://www.decathlon.es/media/827/8279425/big_ad2b4f809ddb45ae990daab7bb91c8e9.jpg) is the board he gets  
> (because come on)

Lance couldn't for the life of him remember how had he ended in that corner of youtube. One moment he'd been looking up videos about how were paper cups made -which he swore was relevant for his paper on coffee shops economics- the next, he was listening to some obscure trip-hop mixes. However, despite it being two in the morning on a Thursday, he didn't feel any urgency to switch tabs to the paper-to-be.

It wasn't due until like, midday, so he still had plenty of time.

"Turn that thing down, Lance," came a muffled groan from under a pillow. "We're never rooming together again."

"Aw, come on, you love me Hunk-a-boo," Lance teased, but he reached for his headphones. He might have nowhere to be until late morning, having chosen his classes specifically to avoid early mornings, but he knew Hunk was too academically driven to share his priorities.

Hunk muttered a thank you when he plugged them in, but Lance was already unable to hear him, clicking through the recommended videos.

His attention was picked when he saw one called Gyeong Longboarding. Was that a new music genre? He'd discovered like, five new ones in the span of the last two hours, so it might very well be. The thumbnail didn't reveal anything either, a guy standing in a park with soft lightning. Probably another chill music CD cover. Lance scrolled down to check the other videos, and when none of them stuck out, he moved back up and clicked on the one on top.

To his mild surprise, it was an actual video. Lance rubbed his eyes and leaned closer. Longboarding was, apparently, a skating thing. Lance had never been much for skating, the flashy tricks always seeming too douchey for his taste, and he was about to click away to the next video when it finished buffering and started playing. To his surprise, the boy in the video didn't immediately start jumping off ramps and trying to break his neck. The music was one of the relaxing piano songs Lance had listened to a couple of videos ago, and the skate moved smoothly in sync with it. The guy's footing on it continuously changed, and it took Lance a moment to realize he, too, was following the music. He moved weightlessly, dancing on top of a skate better than most white kids at Lance's class could do on solid ground.

When the video ended, he immediately played the next one that had the word Gyeong on the title, and opened google in a new tab to research longboards.

 

* * *

 

Fourteen hours and a very rushed paper later, Lance was back in his bedroom.

"Hunk, guess what I got!"

Both Hunk and Pidge turned to look at him, their faces guarded.

"Please tell me it's nothing alive."

Lance glared down at her.

"I don't even know who invited you here, midget, much less why do you think your name is 'Hunk'."

"It's not like I guessed. I just hoped. It's a dog, isn't it!"

"Lance, dude, not again."

"It's not a dog!" Lance sighed. "I did that when I was five, Hunk, let it go. And I managed to get my mom to keep it, so I don't know why do you talk about it like it was such a bad thing." Lance pouted, but it didn't seem to have any effect on his terrible, terrible friends.

"Because you'd find a way to make us keep it now, too, and I'm _not_ going to walk it."

"Pidge you don't even live here," Lance protested.

"I have to agree with Lance there, Pidge, you don't live here. We both know it'd be me the one who would have to walk it whenever Lance got busy, and I'm not going to do that."

"Not even if it's adorable?"

"I _knew_ it was a dog."

"It's not a dog! I'm just gauging my future chances of getting away with one, since you brought it up."

"Great, Pidge, you're giving him ideas now-" Hunk's sentence was cut short by a pillow flying into his face.

"Did your test really go that badly, Pi-"

Another pillow hit Lance straight in the face.

When it fell to the ground, Lance looked between Pidge and Hunk, the latter looking as stunned as he felt. He snorted. Hunk looked at him, offended. Unable to hold it in anymore, Lance burst out laughing, and the others followed soon after.

His stomach hurt by the time they managed to stop.

“Alright, alright, it’s been a long week. Lance, just tell us already, we’re not going to be able to guess,” Pidge admitted tiredly, her expression more relaxed now than when Lance first arrived.

“Oh shit, I left it outside! If it's not there I'm-!” Lance rushed out of the room and back again, this time grinning. “Ta-da! What do you guys think?”

“Holy shit dude that’s so _cool_!” Hunk beamed.

“You bought a skateboard?!” Pidge squinted at the board Lance was holding.

“It’s not a skateboard, it’s a longboard, Pidge, sheesh. Isn’t it gorgeous?”

When held up the board reached Lance’s hip. Both the shape and design underneath were obviously inspired on a surfboard, blue stripes mixed with light bamboo ones. If Lance hadn’t fallen in love with the sport watching the videos the night before, the online catalogs would have done it. He missed the beach and the sun, and just being able to carry a sort-of surfboard under his arm made him giddy inside.

“Hell yeah, it is! Man, I didn’t know you could skate.” Hunk had moved closer and was poking at the upper truck. “We have to try it at the park today.”

“Actually...” Lance trailed off, pulling the board closer to himself protectively. Pidge snickered. He glared at her.

“You don’t know how to skate, do you?” she asked, smiling behind her hand.

“Oh. Shit. You’re right, we’ve known each other for years, I’d know.” Hunk squinted at Lance, standing up straight again. “Lance, are you serious?”

“Co- come on, you just admitted it was a beauty! It wasn’t even that expensive, and I can _learn_! I’m naturally graceful, you know me.”

“I’m not missing this for the world.” Pidge sat back down on Lance’s bed, bouncing. “We’re _so_ going to the park later.”

Hunk sighed heavily before smiling at Lance.

“I’ll bring my first aid kit.”

“I can’t believe this, betrayed by my own best friends,” Lance grumbled, setting the board down just to lie down on Hunk’s bed dramatically. “How will I ever recover?”

“Oh, you’ll live. We can all have lunch after we’re back from the ER.”

That didn't lift Lance’s mood, and he wearily dragged himself to undo the wrapping around the board’s wheels. Wordlessly, Hunk handed him a pair of scissors. They watched Lance struggle for a while until he was finally surrounded by the remains of the packaging, admiring his acquisition.

“Have you thought about where will you keep it?” Hunk prodded. Their room might be a double, but between the two of them they had enough projects and models in progress to take up most of the free space.

“It'll fit under the bed I'm sure.”

“Isn't the bed virtually standing on your dirty laundry?”

“It’ll be good motivation to clean it up! See, it’s improving our lives already,” Lance replied, turning to look at them with bright eyes.

“...Lance, it’s not like we’re going to tell you to return it,” Pidge sighed, lying back down on the bed. “Hopefully it’ll entertain you for long enough to make you forget about the puppy.”

“I’m sorry, Pidge, I can’t believe you’d assume I’d ever forget about puppies. If one comes up, you’ll pry it out of my cold dead hands.”

Another pillow hit Lance’s head.

“Shit, Pidge, did the test really go _that_ badly? I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Lance added the moment he got the pillow off his face. “Anyway Hunk is even weaker to small animals than I am, don’t act like I’d be the only one at fault,” he added rapidly before dodging another one. “And stop throwing my pillows on the floor, I take care of them!”

“You’re terrible.” Pidge looked between him and Hunk, seemingly unsurprised by Hunk’s guilty expression. “I’m not even remotely surprised, just so you know. Let’s head to the park after lunch. I’ll grab my skates.”

“Sooo... you’re fine with it?” Lance sat up straight.

“Yeah, we’ll even go with you and record you falling flat on your ass.”

“Like hell you will. My beautiful ass is _not_ gonna brush the ground.” Lance jumped to his feet. “I’m gonna be the best longboard dancer in this godda-”

“Language,” Hunk frowned.

“-in this goshdarn city. Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

The park was much, much busier than Lance had been hoping for. Of course, he was certain there was nothing for him to worry about. He'd do great. Perhaps he’d even get some fans with his talent riding-

Oh, who was he kidding. He was going to make a fool of himself and his friends would never let him live it down.

“Getting cold feet, Lance?” Pidge teased him, glancing at his face. Lance’s face must have said all she needed to know, because she backed down slightly. “Come on, it can't be that different from a surfboard. Want Hunk to push you?”

“Pfff I'm a grown boy, Pidge, I can manage. Just watch me.”

Swallowing around the knot in his throat, he set the board on the ground and tested it with one foot. It wasn't as wobbly as he had feared. He'd be fine.

He was not fine.

He could put one foot on the board. He could push himself with the other. The moment he tried to do anything else, he'd lose balance and trip. After the first hour, it was by sheer luck that his ass hadn't met the asphalt yet. Even if he didn't care about the looks people sent his way (he cared) it was starting to get tiresome to try cross the park limping on a wheeled board. Hunk did try to push Lance once, and he ended up having to run off the table when it got too fast for him to control it. It came close to hitting a group that was lying around in the grass taking selfies. They weren't happy, and had some creative suggestions about what exactly Lance could do with his board. He ran away after that, his friends trailing a bit behind, being no match for Lance’s long strides.

He'd been so worried getting out of the scene that he barely noticed where his feet took him. The moment he got to an area with less people around he went straight back to practicing, determined to at least get both feet on the board. He hadn't yet gotten in the habit of actually looking where he was going, and both Hunk and Pidge were still trailing behind, so it came as a complete surprise when he raised his head and noticed he was barely thirty feet away from a group of longboarders. Complete with the cool clothes and a GoPro of all the things.

They had noticed him, too, and most of them were staring straight at Lance with a mix of pity and disdain. Lance’s face heated up, and he glared at them, ready to keep moving ahead without paying them any mind.

Then he made eye contact with the shortest guy in the crowd and it all came crashing down.

“Gyeong??”

The boy from the videos -because it was him, Lance might have barely seen his face but after all the videos he'd recognize that mullet anywhere- seemed startled at his outburst. From the rest of the group, though, the reactions were much more lukewarm. A couple of chuckles and a ‘oh, man, another crazy fan’ muttered from somewhere. Lance didn't care about any of them but one person.

“Yes, that's me.” The boy frowned slightly. Shit, he was gorgeous. “I don't think I know you though.”

“Dude, shouldn't you be in Korea?” Lance kept staring dumbfoundedly at him, a foot still on top of the table. “What are you doing here??”

“Why would I be in Korea?” And now he was scrunching up his nose as if he'd smelled something gross. Lance recognized that look. “That's a lot to assume for a guy who watched a couple of my videos but didn't read any of the description. I study here.”

Lance paled, attempting to backtrack. The name sounded Korean, the music had been Korean, everyone in the video seemed relatively Korean, and Lance hadn't been particularly awake at the time. He looked at the rest of the group, noting the annoyed and downright hostile looks he was receiving now that the amusement was gone, the complete lack of an accent on their voices, the Garrison U sweaters a couple of them were wearing...

“Mierda. Me vo- I'm gonna go.” He crouched to grab the board, holding it tight to stop it from slipping out of his sweaty hands. Now everyone was looking at him, and the pressure was indescribable. He could see Pidge and Hunk standing slightly away from the circle and rushed to join them, the stares on his back burning like an iron brand.

“Lance, what happened?” Hunk’s soft concern told Lance all he needed to know about the state of his face.

“Nothing, I just thought I'd better off practicing at the old hospital’s parking lot for now. Don't wanna run into anyone when I crash.” He tried to convince himself that his voice wasn't shaking. “You guys can grab dinner first, I'm gonna keep practicing still. Polish my technique and all.”

“Like fuck we are.” Pidge glared at the group, who had already started moving away without sparing Lance a second glance. “You're gonna figure this out, and we're going to be there for it. We're not eating anything until you do, that's how sure I am. And when you do, we're going to celebrate it proper at that new pizza place.”

Hunk didn't protest Pidge’s suggestion. The two of them had seen Lance fail for an hour straight, and they were still willing to drop everything to spend their Friday supporting him.

Lance was not tearing up. His eyes were irritated from the wind. Hunk and Pidge clearly understood the cause, too. They didn't mention it as they made their way out of the park, talking about the rumors about their teachers and the cafeteria food, until Lance’s mind was as far as it could be from that pair of dark eyes looking down on him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the rest of the day from Keith's POV! The poor boy needs a break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week is going to be hell working on my thesis do NOT get used to this updating speed :'/  
> Thanks again to DriftingFarandWide for the super fast beta what would I do without you  
> 

“Alright, Keith, stop there.”

Keith looked away from the camera with a small huff.

“Come on, Shiro, it's just a ‘remember to like, comment and subscribe’, I don't need any more _powder_.”

It was useless, of course. Before he could finish the sentence, Shiro had already taken out his biggest brush.

“It's a direct shot of your face, that's what, and your nose is shining again. If you would just _let me_ -”

Allowing his bangs to get pinned back, Keith resigned himself to the treatment. He exchanged a look with Shay, who was waiting patiently behind the camera. She was the only one in the group who couldn't get on a board, but that meant she didn't try wandering off like the rest of their friends to do some tricks. Keith would have as well, except he hadn't posted a single video since midterm season started and he knew he had to fix that.

Of course, a regular video with someone following him with a camera wouldn't do. No, his handy source of extra income, more commonly called a fan base, demanded attention. Attention in the form of another tutorial video. Keith hadn't done one in a while, and had forgotten how much fussier Shiro got with his makeup whenever they filmed one. Or perhaps it was the stress from cosmetology school getting to his head. Keith couldn't say.

He probably just wanted to impress Allura. Keith told him so.

“Gossip all you want, Keith, I'm still getting this done.” Shiro didn't even lift his eyes from Keith's chin. However, the light dusting of pink across his cheeks gave him away.

“Seriously, Shiro, I don't know what are you doing. She's gone off cruising, too. You'd have more luck impressing her doing that.”

“She's going to watch the video too, she told you,” Shiro insisted, unaware of how he'd given himself away.

“It's because she's better than you, right?” Keith grinned. “Maybe you could get her to teach you some stuff. It'd be a good first date.”

Shiro straightened his back and pointed at Keith menacingly with his brush. “Keith, my love life is absolutely none of your business. Now get back to work,and stop sweating or I'll redo the whole thing.”

“Finally.”

He walked up to Shay, leaving Shiro to stare lovingly further down the road. Allura was easy to spot, her hair flowing in the air as she twirled. Keith shrugged.

“Alright, Shay, whenever you’re ready.”

Shay nodded and adjusted the camera again.

“I was thinking you could say it three or four times. Then we can pick whichever we like best?”

“Sounds good. We're all done after, right?”

“Yeah, that's everything on the checklist.”

“Great. Let's do it.”

When Shay gave him the signal, he grinned at the camera.

“That's all for today! Once you learn the basics, you can combine-”

 

* * *

 

Keith glared at his fries to avoid glaring at his friends. He wished he were still cruising down the road. They had all gone to a burger joint nearby a while when it starts going dark. It was rare they met all together, and Keith had forgotten just why he didn't like those occasions all that much.

Most of the group were kids from their neighborhood who just had an interest in longboards. They had flocked to Keith because of his channel, and for most of them, Keith doubted they had anything in common besides it. Some just wanted to hang out with someone well known and show up in the videos. Some thought they were cooler than everyone else because they could do a couple of tricks, like what happened before with the guy that had recognized him.

And some just wanted to hit on Allura.

Allura was Shiro’s classmate, a recent addition, and also drop dead gorgeous. She'd moved into the city that year. Keith had run into her a couple of months ago, when he'd been recording a video with Shiro. She'd been dying to join them, and ended up bringing her roommate Shay with them, too. They had hung out a couple of times more since.

Keith didn't mind the two of them. In fact, he actually liked to hang out with them. However, he didn't like the way a number of his so called friends had looked at her the moment she showed up that day.

Shiro and her were meant to be. Keith wouldn't accept any discussion in the matter. No one else seemed to have caught up with it, though, because they kept staring. Shiro broke sweating whenever she smiled at him, and he had yet to smile back.

Not being related by blood didn't lessen Keith's second hand embarrassment.

“Shiro, come on, talk to her,” he muttered under his breath. Shay, currently sitting next to Keith, laughed.

“Shut up, Keith,” he huffed, then raised his voice. “So how did the video go?”

That seemed to gather some interest around the table, especially since Allura had turned to listen, too. Keith resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“It went fine.”

“I'm going to send all the clips later, but everything went smoothly,” Shay offered. “If you select them tomorrow before lunch, I can have it all done before Sunday.”

“You don't have to-” Keith begun to say before getting interrupted.

“Oh right! Remember that loser from earlier?” someone laughed. Keith had never bothered to learn his name, and it didn't seem like that was going to change. “I can't believe he talked to Keith. Bet he's never even read the video descriptions. Korea?”

“Yeah, what an embarrassment.” Keith scrapped another face from his list of names to learn. “Did you see him on the board? I hope no one thought he was with us!”

“Really? I don't think he was much worse than you, _Stephen_ ,” Allura suddenly retorted. “It's not nice to speak like that.”

The whole table seemed to fall silent at that. There were no more comments on the topic after both Shiro and Keith failed to join. Keith could feel Shiro’s eyes on him, but he refused to look anywhere outside of his tray.

There weren't many fries for him to entertain himself on. Luckily, by the time he ran out it was time to split the check, which took entirely too long. Allura offered to pay for it all. Shiro firmly refused. Keith had the vague notion that her father swam in money, though he didn't ask. Even though he had more than enough to live on comfortably now, it didn't mean he was comfortable discussing personal finances. At the end, she still got away with leaving a hefty tip that Shiro didn't protest much about.

They went back to the streets. Slowly, people dripped away as each said goodbye and took the way home.

Shiro waited until it was just the two of them to open his mouth.

“Hey, Keith. What did _you_ think of that boy we met at the park?”

Keith glanced at Shiro. The sound of his board as he dragged it behind him was the only noise. It wasn't enough to say he didn't hear him.

“You'll have to be more specific, Shiro. We met many boys at the park today.”

Shiro rolled his eyes and adjusted his own board under his arm. Keith was sure he just did it to show off his biceps. Allura wasn't even there. It was useless.

“You know who I mean. Don't you think he was a bit rude?”

“I think it was a honest mistake. He must have only seen a couple of videos. Did he seem familiar with longboarding to you?”

“Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?” Shiro teased. “Keith Gyeong, giving people the benefit of the doubt?”

“I'm obviously a shape shifting alien, Shiro, we've gone through this.” Keith frowned at Shiro. “The others were assholes. Come on, he's probably just bought the board. It takes guts to just go somewhere public and step on it.”

“He didn't even step on it fully.”

“But he was trying!!” Keith snarled. “You won't even ask Allura _out_! Why are you judging him?!”

“Keith, why are you-” Shiro stopped in his tracks.

Keith didn't like the way he was looking at him.

“What.”

“Oh my god. Keith. You thought he was _cute_ , didn't you?”

“Shut up!”

It was too late. Keith could feel his cheeks burning. And worse of all, he knew Shiro could see them, too. The street lamps weren't bad enough to hide it.

“That's just precious.”

“No, it's not! And I'm serious, he didn't deserve to get snapped at like that.”

“Well, you sorta snapped at him too.” At Keith's confused face, he continued. “You just told him ‘why would I be in Korea?’ He probably thought you were shutting him up.”

“I was confused! It was a weird question!” Keith paused. “Do you really think he thought that?”

“Keith, you have to admit you're a snappy one.”

“I'm not,” Keith snapped.

“Whatever you say. I'm sure you'll see him again, and then you can clear things up.”

“Yeah, I guess. Now stop grinning like that.”

They kept walking in silence for a couple of minutes. Keith’s mind kept going back to the encounter. The confused look on the boy’s face, the blush that formed afterwards...

“Shiro.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think he’ll watch the video?”

Shiro started laughing.

“Shiro!!! I’m serious!” Keith sputtered. “It’s a tutorial, isn’t it?! It’s for beginners! And he knows the channel already, I don’t think it’d be so weird for him to check it out!”

He kept protesting until Shiro recovered. The jerk.

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll watch it. The interesting part is that you think it’s important he does,” he teased Keith. “I don’t know why did you complain about the makeup so much.”

“Because it wasn’t important,” Keith insisted. “...Do you think it was important?”

“I think it’s good that you look your best. There were a lot of close up shots. He’s going to see those, too.” Shiro’s grin softened. “Really, it’s just good practice. You look good. And if he can’t see that, well, he and I will have words.”

“Shiro, you don’t need to beat up all the boys who don’t like me.”

“Yes I do.”

“You’re _awful_.”

“That’s practically in the contract, Keith.” Shiro put his free arm around Keith’s shoulders. “Now, cheer up. Boy or no boy, Shay is going to be sending us the video tomorrow first thing in the morning. You need to get some rest now.”

Keith sighed and leaned back against Shiro. To be honest, the meetup had been exhausting. He’d happily spend a day resting. Or two. Screw homework.

They kept talking easily until they got to their apartment. Keith got Shiro to promise to watch a documentary on crop circles he’d spotted on Netflix before each of them returned to their rooms.

They were lucky. Between Shiro’s sporadic jobs and the sponsorships Keith got, it wasn’t hard to live on their own. Their foster parents gave them money every month when they visited, but if it was all they had they’d be on a much tighter budget. No nice longboard, for sure. Throwing his jacket on the chair, Keith jumped on top on the bed. It was the first bedroom he hadn’t had to share, and even though the landlord explicitly forbade it, he’d wasted no time covering it in posters and pictures. He’d deal with the wall when the time came.

It was nice, right now. They even had a rack for their boards at the entrance. He had string lights on the wall. A pile of clothes on his desk chair. His laptop waiting for him to post a new video. Muted music coming through the paper thin walls, the neighbor’s taste for ballads already familiar. Keith didn’t even want to change out of his clothes. He could easily fall asleep where he was.

He wondered if the boy from the park would like his room, too.

The thought had appeared in his head out of nowhere. Keith blinked at the ceiling, confused. Why was he thinking about that now?

After pondering about it for a full minute, Keith pressed his face against a pillow and screamed.

Shiro was right. Damn him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HMU  
> Twitter @shiroganbatte  
> Tumblr @varevare


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is a romantic. Don't tell him, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been... a really long week.  
> Thanks again to DriftingFarandWide for betaing the first half!

The next morning, Keith discovered that despite going to sleep relatively early, he could barely move. He barely had enough energy to roll over and check his phone. Way too many private messages for him to answer. Most of them were asking about where their favorite youtuber might possibly be. Hopefully, he'd post the video later in the evening and they'd count it as a valid response. As ridiculous as it might sound, after doing it for so long, the camera still drained him. He could barely stand interacting with a dozen friends, and that was nothing in comparison with the thousands who would watch the video. It was foolish to think a full eight hours of sleep would have him jumping out of bed and doing push-ups like Shiro.

Of course, lying in bed awake didn't exactly count as sleeping, but still. It should have. At least, in Keith's opinion.

The issue here was, of course, that Shiro had no trouble moving on sheer willpower. Keith, however, needed a reason to get up. Otherwise, gravity got the best of him. It was Shiro's fault, for buying them such nice mattresses. It was the best mattress Keith had in his life. His limbs felt heavy, his eyelids heavier, and he just wanted to curl up and keep sleeping.

He was waiting for Shay's message though. He needed those clips. Then he needed to cut them, and edit them, and he was getting sleepier just thinking about it. He wondered briefly if Shiro had cooked breakfast, and decided he wasn't hungry enough for it to motivate himself to get up.

The next time he opened his eyes, it was three hours later, to Shiro knocking on his door.

"Keith, get your ass out of bed, I'm going to make pancakes."

He groaned in protest, the sound muffled by the same pillow he'd been screaming into the night before.

"Keith, I know you're awake. They’ll be cold by the time you get up. Just take a fast shower and come over."

"Do I  _ need _ to shower?" It was a fair question, he didn't even break a sweat filming those tricks. Admittedly, he had when spoken to. Except that hardly counted. Probably.

"Yes. I know you didn't even wash your face properly last night. I shudder to think what your skin would look like if I hadn't brought the wipes yesterday."

"Fine, fine, you dictator. Don't eat them all before I come out."

Pushing the covers away, he grabbed the first jeans and tshirt combo he could find that seemed clean enough and dragged himself to the shower. The water woke him up slightly, and he hoped the food would do the rest before it was time to edit.

“I can’t believe it, the sleeping beauty woke up,” Shiro announced dramatically when Keith appeared in the kitchen. “Try not to drip water all over the counter. Your plate is that one."

Muttering a thank you, Keith took a seat across from Shiro. They didn't talk a whole lot over breakfast. Shiro was distracted with his phone, and Keith was distracted trying to not nod off.

The coffee improved the situation slightly, making Keith notice Shiro for the first time.

"Wait a second. Who are you texting?"

The reaction was immediate. Shiro looked up, blushed, and hid the phone against his chest instinctively.

"Just Matt."

It was too late. "You don't blush when talking to Matt."

"Well, that's fine, because I'm not blushing right now."

Wordlessly, Keith brought up his own phone and took a picture of Shiro's face.

"Keith!"

"It's fine, it's just a normal picture. A normal picture of your normal face when talking to a normal friend."

"Keith, come  _ on _ ."

"Only if you tell me who are you texting."

" _ Fine _ , it's Allura, happy? She's coming over with Shay."

"Wait, is Shay coming over?" That was news to Keith. "I thought she'd just send me the files."

"She said she had nothing better to do, and thought you could just work from your room together. She's bringing her laptop." Shiro looked at Keith's expression. "Keith. When was the last time you cleaned your room?"

"It's not dirty," he grumbled, speeding up his eating. Why was everything so hard that morning? "Figures you'd leave me to hang out with Allura."

"I'm not hanging out with Allura, she invited me to her morning run! You never do much on the mornings anyway, and I guessed between the video and Shay you'd be all set."

"Like you haven't run already. I know your schedule even if I'm not awake for it." He finished the pancakes and downed the rest of his coffee. "Alright, I'm off."

"Off cleaning, I hope."

" _ Off _ , Shiro."

Keith stuck his tongue out at him and went back to his room. He'd been busy with school. He hadn't been able to even choose a major yet, much less work on housekeeping. That wasn't his specialty. He sighed dejectedly at the piles of history books and essays in progress. They might look messy to an outsider, but he had them all organized, and having to clean them up put that organization in jeopardy. He resigned himself to not being able to find things for the following week or two as he stacked up the papers. The laundry he could fit under the bed, probably. A workspace was a priority. He'd barely finished when he heard the ring of the doorbell.

"I'll go get it!" Shiro called out. 

-

Keith had forgotten just how embarrassing his voice sounded in recordings. His self esteem was average, probably. He didn't check. There was something in being able to watch all your mannerisms and play them over and over in order to create a decent vid. Something awful. 

Honestly, he liked the ones where he didn’t speak better.

However, he didn’t need Shiro to tell him than this video was long overdue, and he wasn’t about to throw all the footage away for a nonsense reason. As tempting as that might be.

“Do you want to keep all the tricks in the order we recorded them?” Shay was asking him. She had to repeat the question. Keith just realized he’d been watching the background of the video to see if he spotted the boy again. He almost slapped himself when he realized.

“We should try to put them in order from easiest to hardest. You know, since it’s for beginners, they’ll probably attempt them in the order they appear.”

Shay hummed in agreement. Her eyes stayed trained on the screen.

“To be honest, I have no idea what’s easier or harder here. They all look like I’d fall flat on my butt,” Shay replied with a small smile after a couple of minutes watching. “You’ll have to tell me.”

Keith sighed wearily. “I’m the same, though. None of these seem easier or harder, and I don’t remember which order I learned them in.”

"I'm sure we can figure this out, don't worry."

Silence set back again. Keith was distracted trying to figure out the moves. Shay was distracted doing the actual work, as guilty as that made Keith feel. 

“So... Shiro and Allura, huh?”

Keith looked up at that.

“What do you mean? Do you know something I don’t?” Had Shiro told her anything? He was the younger brother, he had to be the first to know. Maybe Keith should have gotten to the door before Shiro could.

“Not really, if you have eyes.” Shay hummed, still looking at the screen. “They like each other. Allura won’t admit it either but I think it’s pretty obvious.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Keith was divided between relief about not being left out and disappointment at not receiving any news. “You think they’re having a date today?”

“They’re definitely having a date today. They just don’t know.”

“They’re just going for a run. I don’t think my brother can make it work.”

“You’re such a romantic. I’m sure you have a list with date requisites. In bullet points.”

Shay broke laughing at Keith’s furious, red-cheeked denial. He hated how easily he blushed.

Truth be told, with how his last relationships had ended he was clearly in no position to criticise his brother’s unconscious romantic advances. Irreconcilable differences, to put it short. Keith hadn’t dated since he’d started college. He reminded himself he didn’t want to. People at college weren’t more interesting than he was used to. He prefered to keep himself to a handful of close friends, and that was it.

In fact, besides his brother, all those friends -actual friends- were girls. Keith’s dating prospects weren’t looking up. He had no inclination to change that, though.

“Alright, I won’t tease you anymore,” Shay said after she recovered. “In any case, my offer to set you up for some dates still stands. You know, when you’re a exchange student you get to know a lot of people.”

“I should be the one pestering you, then,” Keith answered with a pout. “Have you met anyone interesting?”

To his surprise, instead of reacting immediately Shay blushed and looked back at the screen.

“We should finish this sequence. If we keep getting distracted we’ll never be done with it,” she muttered unconvincingly.

“Oh I’m not buying that. Who is it? I told you about my exes, you have to tell me this.”

“I don’t  _ have _ to...” Shay relented after a couple of seconds. “It’s a classmate from Applied Physics.”

Keith frowned. He wasn’t in that class. He was in little to no science related classes, save for Cryptozoology. Shiro kept saying it wasn’t a real science. Keith kept telling him he was a fool.

“That’s not fair. I want to know who is it. Do I know them from another class or something?”

Shay seemed to ponder for a moment. She frowned and stared at the screen blankly. It was way more concentration than Keith expected on such a plain question.

“I don’t think you do right now. But you might later,” she added.

“Shay, I like riddles, but that one was just lame.”

“It was the truth. Are you going to the park again next Friday?”

Keith huffed and leaned back against the chair.

“I’m  _ not _ forgetting this conversation. But yeah. I won’t invite the same people as yesterday, though. Or let Shiro invite them. Why, you want to give it a try after all?”

“No, and I have a test that afternoon anyway.”

Keith blinked, trying to process the exchange.

“Wait. But then why did you-” 

However, before he finished his question Shay managed to drag his attention back to the video. Two minutes later, Keith had completely forgotten what did he meant to ask.

Five hours later, the video was finished and uploading. Shiro was still off somewhere with Allura, whatever that might mean, and Shay had just left after asking Keith if she could use the video for her portfolio. Keith had agreed in a heartbeat. She'd done most of the work, anyway.

And now he was left alone staring at the screen loading. He used to feel nervous the first times, and even more when he started gathering more attention, but at this point it was just boring. His anxiety would wait until the messages started incoming again. For now, however, he was at peace with his own boredom. He took a shower, checked some documentaries on tv, ignored his phone, attempted his homework. A productive day, if anyone were to ask him.

It didn’t stop him from bolting towards the entrance when he heard the keys on the lock.

“Did you kiss?” he asked immediately, skidding to a stop right as Shiro opened the door.

“Keith, for hell’s sake, you almost gave me a heart attack,” Shiro complained wearily.

Keith eyed him up and down.

“Shiro. You stink. What did you do?”

“Come on, I just need to shower, give me a break.”

Keith raised an eyebrow.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Shiro sat down to take his shoes and did not stand up again.

“Allura runs... really fast. We ran all the way to the bridge and back. My usual morning run does  _ not _ imply a half marathon.”

Keith looked at him with a pitying smile.

“Don’t worry, Shiro, she’s probably just testing you to see if you’re worthy.” He took a seat next to his lying form. “You don’t look very worthy right now, though.”

He only got a muffled whine in response.

“Do you need some water?”

“Please.”

When Keith returned from the kitchen, Shiro had finally managed to stand. He downed the glass in a blink.

“Alright, shower now. Sorry, I didn’t ask, how did the video go?”

Keith just shrugged. “It was uploading, I’ll check later. No gym today, right?”

“No way.”

“So you have nothing better to do than to watch the documentary you promised me we’d watch together?” Keith frowned when Shiro froze like a deer in headlights. “You  _ promised _ .”

“I did.” He stretched his arms. The wince as he did so did not escape Keith’s eyes. “Alright, definitely no gym today. Let’s do that. I can help you with the messages later.”

“You better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is back go Lance's POV and some real klance interaction (at last) so stay tuned for that! Been busy w thesis but next chapter shouldn't take that long!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets roasted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to finish this earlier this week, but life. It's also longer than any other chapters ;;; so there. Plot's finally moving somewhere.

“Let's go to the park.”

Hunk rolled over and scanned Lance. His eyes shone with the same light they always had when he was set on a bad idea. It didn't bode well for Hunk. Lance’shair was shiny, his clothes clean, and the cologne was hurting Hunk’s nostrils from ten feet away. All in all, it was terrible. He was in ‘I have a crush’ mode, and he didn't even know it. Hunk sighed, the responsibility that came with friendship heavy on his shoulders.

“You seem to have forgotten, but we went there yesterday. And the day before,” Hunk pointed out wearily.

“But today is the day! We've been there every day this week. We know he goes there regularly because every recent video has been there. We know he's going to record another one soon-” Lance was interrupted as Hunk clicked his tongue.

“You mean  _ you _ know. Not everyone is stalking Keith-”

“ _ -and _ we saw him there last week. So he probably just goes every Friday!” Lance continued as if there had been no interruption. “Come on, Hunk, I need to see him again.”

“ _ You  _ need to see him again. I'm a free spirit, Lance.”

“Staying locked up all day isn't good. Haven't you read the articles? Abi is always mentioning those articles.”

“Lance, your grandma is a lovely lady, but I need my beauty sleep too.” Hunk rolled over in bed to give Lance his back.

“You wouldn't be needing to sleep now if you hadn't decided to marathon Star Wars last night, come on!”

“And whose fault was that?” Hunk turned and arched an eyebrow.

“You can't blame me for having ideas, come on.”

There was no response other than loud, fake snores. Perhaps smothering him would make a convincing argument. Lance groaned and flopped himself on top of Hunk, then groaned in pain and rolled over. He’d somehow forgotten he had bruised his ribs the day before.

Hunk, being the wonderful friend that he was, sat up in concern. “Did you hurt yourself  _ again _ ?”

“I resent the emphasis in the word again.” The wheezing made it sound way less convincing. Lance resented that, too.

“I've lost count of how many times you've tripped on that board.”

“I think Pidge is still keeping up a tally.” Moving carefully, he stood up again. “Are you coming, then? Pidge says the fiftieth time I trip I have to buy her fries.”

“Boy, you have it bad.”

“I don't have anything!” Lance insisted. “I just want to practice, is that so bad?” Hunk simply didn't understand.

“Lance, that tutorial got like ten thousand views, and approximately eight thousand came from your computer. I bet you can recite everything he says by now.”

“I do not.” He did. Hunk didn't need to know that. “I'm just trying to learn the moves anyway, is that so bad?”

“You keep complaining about the part where he smiles at the camera. Tell me, Lance, how's that relevant for learning to do cross-steps? How.”

“I'm just trying to get inside his head!”

“You're trying to get into his something alright.” 

Lance threw his arms up. Then, unable to come up with any proper reply, he lowered them. Hunk snickered.

“Admit it, Lance, you have a giant, dramatic, terr-” Lance covered Hunk’s mouth with both hands before he could finish that sentence. He'd have to bring out his trump card.

“Shay is coming too.”

When he released Hunk, he had a blush to match Lance’s own.

“You  _ asked _ Shay to come watch you attempt to break your neck? What do you even want more witnesses for?”

“First of, I did it for  _ you _ , you ingrate. And second, I didn't  _ ask _ . I  _ mentioned _ we'd be going when we were talking with Pidge about our plans for the weekend, since you're too much of a coward to do so. And she said she's going to be there with some friends too. And that she hoped to see us. So,  _ there _ .”

“She said that?”

“Yeah more or less. So, let's get going!”

Hunk narrowed his eyes and stared at Lance. “I'm not sure I trust your ‘more or less’, to be honest.”

“Okay but are you seriously going to risk it? What if she's looking forward to seeing you and you stand her up?”

“That’s- that's blackmail, Lance!”

“Maybe. Is it working?”

“Well, yeah.” Hunk stood up with a groan. “Why are we even friends?”

“Because I set you up so you can talk to your crush.”

“She’s not my crush!” Hunk replied indignantly. However, Lance was already grabbing his board and walking out of the room. 

In Lance’s humble opinion, the sooner they stopped talking about crushes, the better. He didn’t want the conversation to move back towards uncomfortable topics.

It wasn’t like he had a crush on Keith, the guy was insufferable. His name was, indeed, Keith, and he was a Korean-American student at his own college. It was all in the channel description and FAQ, and Lance would be lying if he didn’t admit he was still embarrassed about it. However, that didn’t mean he had to admit it in  _ public _ . He  _ might _ apologize, maybe, if the next time they saw each other Keith didn’t act like such a jerk. It seemed unlikely. Keith was a full out internet star, complete with a posse of upturned noses going with him everywhere.

The  _ jerk _ . And to think he even had the guts to make nice tutorials for his fans where he talked like a normal person. A normal person who smiled at the camera in such an infuriating way it made Lance’s palms start sweating. He wasn’t  _ that _ special; Lance had to show him that. 

Hunk, bless his beautiful soul, simply couldn’t understand what Lance was going through. Instead, he just huffed a bit about being made go out for the fifth time that week. He was the best friend Lance could ask for, and he let him know so after Pidge closed the door on his face.

“Pidge, you  _ traitor _ , you said you would come!”

“I said I  _ might _ join you guys later, I want to take a nap,” came Pidge’s muffled voice through the door. “It’s been a long week, only  _ you _ would still have the energy to go out every day like this.”

“Midterms finished last week! And it’s not like you two do anything other than laughing and taking videos,” Lance pouted. It didn’t matter Pidge couldn’t see it.

“Yeah, it kills my neurons to see you like that for too long, thou-” A yawn cut Pidge’s sentence off halfway.

“...alright, fine.” Lance mellowed out. Pidge really did sound tired. “But promise to come grab dinner with us?”

“I’ll be there in a couple of hours, don’t worry, I just need a moment.”

“Alright, we’ll wait for you at the usual spot,” Hunk replied this time.

“Fine... don’t let him break his neck, okay Hunk? And good luck, Lance.”

Lance would have started protesting again, but Hunk dragged him away from the door. He was still grumbling by the time they got to the park. Grumbling about Pidge meant he wasn't getting nervous about other things, so he decided it was a good thing and kept it up.

They walked together until they were at the highest point of the park. The low inclines from there were perfect to roll down slowly. It also had a pretty decent view of the rest of the park, so Lance would keep going up and down the hill trying to take turns decently. He’d been at it for the last four days, and he was getting much better, if he may say so himself. 

However, that day he was distracted. Keith had to show up. Lance had yet to see him, though, but he wouldn’t stop trying.

“Hey, Lance, I think I see Shay,” Hunk called out when he’d started rolling out again. “She’s heading over here.”

“Cool, call her over.” Lance replied.

“You’re going to see her when you take the next turn!” 

Lance didn’t need to look up to see Hunk was blushing. Which was good, since he really needed to keep his eyes on the road right then.

“Alright, then  _ I’ll _ call her over. Wait there!”

He didn’t pay attention to Hunk’s reply, concentrated as he was on the board. He managed to slow it down and turn following the path, and when he looked up, he saw Shay walking towards him with a group of friends. He smiled and was about to wave and call out, when he recognized the friends.

It was a smaller group than the last week, three or four people according to what Lance could see. All of them carrying boards, all of them gorgeous, and among them a mop of dark hair.

Lance froze up.

He'd been thinking about this moment. He'd confront Keith, tell him he's not as cool as he thinks, that he was going to surpass him, that he didn't care how many followers Keith had...

Nothing came out. He was gaping, looking at Keith laughing at something a really tall, really pretty girl next to him was saying. Lance wasn't even able to pay attention to the girl. Keith was the most frustrating person he'd ever seen. And  _ Lance _ hated his guts. He'd barely managed to stop gaping when Keith looked up and made eye contact with him. His eyes were so big. Lance was going to have an aneurism like his uncle Diego, and he wasn't even 20 yet.

The one thing he managed to do is stabilize himself and give him the finger as he rolled by. Slowly, since he’d lost all his momentum regaining his balance. He hoped it looked sassy instead of pathetic. Who was he kidding. It was pathetic. He got a small kick out of seeing Keith gape at him like a fish out of water, even if the fish was actually Lance.

Someone muttered ‘for fuck’s sake, Keith’. Lance was honestly surprised it wasn’t him. The jerk still had the galls to look nice when making a stupid face.

He’d just rolled past them when he realized  _ Keith _ was one of  _ Shay _ ’s friends. He turned his head to ask her what was she doing, and just at that moment his board caught on a crack. Keith wouldn’t have tripped, but Lance wasn’t Keith, and Lance did trip. And while Keith might not trip, he had been staring at Lance still, and kept staring as Lance fell on the ground with a dull thud.

Lance wondered if he should just lie there until they forgot him and left. Perhaps until the whole world forgot him would be best. His ass was sore, his forearm slightly scraped, and his pride mortally wounded. The world, however, was relentlessly determined to not stop fucking up with Lance anytime soon. 

“Are you alright?” a feminine voice asked, sounding genuinely worried. Lance just  _ knew _ it was the hot girl. Fuck.

“I’ll live, yeah,” he grumbled, rolling so he was on his hands and knees. Hopefully, moving fast would convince them he was fine and to leave him alone.

No luck. As usual.

Steps approached him. Hunk was way too far to have gotten there already, so that meant it was Shay coming to check on him. Shay, with her group of friends, surely, watching from a safe distance. Shay, who definitely should be talking to Hunk instead and  _ not _ hanging out with Keith. He sat up, ready to endure the interaction until it was acceptable to run out, because he might not care for Shay’s ‘too cool for you’ friends, but he cared about Shay alright.

Fine, so he also cared about her friends’ opinions, but Lance was well aware that he cared about pretty much everyone’s, and that most of those were a lost battle. This was one of such cases.

“Can you stand? Let me see that,” the person in front of him said.

Of course. It can always get worse. Because that wasn’t Shay. That was Keith, with his big dark eyes behind the messy bangs, reaching for Lance’s forearm with a concerned expression.

Three aneurysms. Lance was going to have three aneurysms, one after another.

“What are you  _ doing _ ,” he hissed. Was Keith trying to rub it in?

“You fell off the board and scratched your arm. I’ve had that happen a lot, I can help,” Keith replied, apparently not taken aback in the slightest by Lance’s retort.

“I gave you the finger not ten seconds ago.”

“Yeah, well.” Keith ducked his head slightly and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. It was the worst thing Lance had ever seen. “Shiro actually told me I wasn’t too nice the other day. I was surprised, I didn’t expect you to talk to me like that. So maybe I kind of deserved that. No hard feelings. Can I see your arm now?”

As if there was any way for Lance to respond to that. Instead, he extended his arm without a word. Anger set off his heart rate the moment Keith touched him, but he did his best to play it cool. Everyone around them was staring, now. Keith tilted his arm a bit, cleaned it with a water bottle, and determined it to be shallow as if Lance couldn’t see that himself.

“You should wrap it up after cleaning it properly, though.”

“I  _ know _ , sheesh, I wasn’t born yesterday!”

Keith opened his mouth, certainly to disagree, but was interrupted by Hunk’s arrival.

“Lance! Are you alright?”

Lance could have teared up right there and then. Hunk was his sole anchor of hope in a sea of shitty people. Shay didn’t count. He couldn't believe she was a traitor who hung out with Keith, of all people. She’d seemed so normal beforehand, too, but Lance would have to retire Hunk his blessing now. It wasn’t an option. Hunk would surely live.

“Yeah, it was nothing.” He stood up and shook his clothes, trying to avoid eye contact with everyone. Seeing as he was now surrounded, that meant staring at the ground.

“I think you were doing pretty good,” Keith offered. Lance was really happy to have his face down now. He wasn’t sure what face would he be making, otherwise. “I saw you last week, you’ve really improved!”

“ _ What? _ What are you on?”

Their exchange was cut short when the others approached them, with Hunk stepping in front of Lance to check on his arm and a taller guy coming to talk to Keith. Keith kept trying to make eye contact with Lance over his shoulder. Lance hid behind Hunk’s back.

“Hey, Lance, are you alright?” Hunk asked him again, but he didn’t seem to be talking about the arm anymore.

“Dude, seriously, I’m cool, let’s just go.”

Keith’s group behind them seemed to be immersed in a vivid discussion. Hopefully, it’d kept them distracted while Lance bailed out.

He realized his knuckles were bleeding when he bent to grab his board. He hadn’t even noticed they were scratched too. It was going to be a pain in the ass for the next week. With a sigh, he turned around to leave.

“Hey, Lance!” Lance turned around and saw the hot girl was talking to him. He wondered why she knew his name. “Why don’t you come with us next time? Keith can teach you.”

She put her arm around Keith, smiling encouragingly. Her teeth were as white as her hair, and Keith’s eyes were too big. Lance felt himself inexplicably drawn to them.

“Yeah, okay,” he replied. His brain only processed the words when they were already out of his mouth. Keith looked as surprised as Lance himself felt.

“Wonderful! Give me your number, we can all meet up when you get your arm patched up.” She walked closer, pulling Keith with her. She had a soft accent, and her proximity finally seemed to push Lance out of his stupor. 

“I’ll give you my number and anything you want, beautiful,” he replied with a wink, taking out his phone from his pocket. His knuckles were stinging, but he didn’t wince too badly, or so he hoped. “Want to tell me yours?”

She smiled openly. Man, she was gorgeous. Next to her, Keith looked really short, and really grumpy. Was he pouting? Well, none of Lance’s business.

“Sure. I’m Allura, you already know Keith, and these are Shiro and Shay.” She handed him a phone. “We usually meet up a couple of days a week.”

Lance noticed Hunk had left his side and was talking to Shay. However, he felt more forgiving now, because Allura was really, really cute, and writing her number on Lance’s phone.

“Here you go.”

Keith had yet to say a word. His face was much more closed off now than it had been just minutes ago. Lance reminded himself he didn’t care. The other guy, Shiro, who was built like a Greek god, had walked over. He didn’t seem happy either, but his light disapproval seemed to be directed at Allura and Keith instead of Lance.

Lance could work with that.

“So, are you guys staying here for long?” 

“Sure, just text this number when you’re done.” Allura smiled brightly. “Do you live closeby?”

“Yeah, I’m staying at the dorms with Hunk. It won’t take me more than a couple hours.” That was good enough, was it? He needed to shower and change clothes if he was going to be meeting her again, but it was still early in the day. They would be still around.

“That’s alright. We’ll see you then.”

“See you.”

Lance couldn’t stop smiling as they walked away, each with a board under their arm. Shay was still talking with Hunk. Lance realized would be a great opportunity to drill her with questions about what, exactly, had she told Allura about him.

Except that Hunk looked really happy to be talking to her, and Lance’s arms still needed fixing. Lance decided he wasn’t about to boycott them. His charm alone would have to do, and his scratches still needed fixing. He walked away, board carefully tucked under his arm, after giving Hunk a thumbs up. Hunk blushed and shooed him away. There’d be weeks of teasing to come for him, but for now, Lance had things to do.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now with actual longboarding!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, had my thesis deadline this week and another paper to turn in. Next week is looking good though, let's see how it goes *rubs hands together* also we're officially over 10k!
> 
> Thank you so much for the lovely comments, they seriously make my day!

Lance had been dead set on getting a couple of bandaids on and storming back out again. Sadly, Hunk, being an actual responsible person, didn't let him. Disinfecting the injury made it hurt even more. He knew he'd be grateful when two days later it'd be dry and scabbing over properly, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it now. Hunk threatened to kick his ass to get him to stay still, then bandaged everything properly and made him wear long sleeves on top. Showing off his guns wasn't deemed a sufficient argument. Easy for Hunk to say, he thought. He didn't need a tank top for people to see he could lift way past 200lbs, easy. Lance wasn't sure of the exact amount. He'd tried to lift one of Hunk’s dumbbells once and immediately decided powerlifting wasn't for him.

The sweatshirt made him look dwarfed. Lance briefly remembered the guy with the white hair standing next to Keith and cursed at himself. If he could fit in Lance's shirts, he'd rip the sleeves off flexing. Allura might have, too. Not everyone liked muscles, though. Right? Hunk nodded, but Lance wasn't as relieved as he'd hoped to be.

At least he was still taller than Keith.

Either way, skinny and late was better than skinny and never. Another ten minutes, and Lance was sure they'd all leave without him.

Speaking of, he should probably have texted Allura to tell her he was arriving. Calling would be faster than texting and walking, though. 

The more he thought, the longer it'd take him. Pocketing his phone, he stepped on the board and pushed himself a handful of times with his right foot. He'd learned to get a decent speed going, even if every time he put both feet up he felt like he was about to fall over. The streets were much emptier than when he'd first arrived that day. It was almost relaxing, just cruising around campus like this. Lance had always loved the feeling of the wind against his skin, even if it smelled more like city and less like sea than he was used to. If he closed his eyes, he could almost-

The pavement changed and the sudden bumps stopped the board, propelling him forward. If he hadn't gotten so much practice jumping off when he tripped, his face would have met the ground. Oops. No one saw that.

He was almost at the park, anyway, so he picked up his board and used his free hand to call Allura’s number. Keith probably could text and cruise at the same time. The ass. It'd would be crazy cool, too.

“Hey, Allura? This is Lance, I'm at the park now.”

“Hey, Lance.” Alright, so Lance’s memory might not be the best, but that didn't sound like Allura’s voice at all. “This is Keith. Allura gave you my number, actually.”

“Oh.” That made some sense, he guessed. Allura probably thought he'd need Keith's phone more. Probably. “Where are you guys? I'll be there asap.”

“Well, I'm by the lions fountain, but-”

“I'll be right there,” Lance cut him. “Just wait a min.”

Hanging up, he got on the board again. He'd managed to get this far, he'd probably live long enough to get to Keith.

It was much less pleasant to ride with the expectation of someone seeing him, but he couldn't afford to care. He kept his eyes on the road, and only stopped when he had reached the fountain.

He looked up to see Keith standing there. Keith, and no one else. Lance waved awkwardly at him, and Keith waved back. He seemed to feel as awkward as Lance felt, which was a first.

“Hey, Keith.”

“Lance.”

“Where are the others?”

Keith set his mouth on a straight line. “You mean Allura?”

Lance was close to taking a step back to avoid the intensity of Keith's glare. “Um, yeah, and the others.”

Keith still looked pissed, and Lance couldn’t figure out what he’d done to offend him this time. Was Allura off limits? Still, there was simply no way Keith could think Lance had a chance with her over him. Keith was like, ten levels above Lance as far as attractiveness went. Even with the pout he was sporting right at that moment. Especially with the pout.

That was probably a weird thought to be having.

“Well, she’s not here. She’s going to grab food with Shiro.” Keith crossed his arms. “I don’t think they’re going to come back. Are you going to leave if she’s not here?”

“What? I’m not gonna leave because she’s away. I’m here for this.” Lance patted his board.

“Ah, alright.” Keith’s frown disappeared as if it had never been there. “Well, they’re sorta dating. In case that’s relevant, anyway.”

“Oh.” Shiro, the muscley Greek god? That  _ definitely  _ explained why Allura gave him Keith's number instead. Lance wouldn’t have made it so far if he wasn’t able to shrug off things like that, though.

“So it's just the two of us?”

Keith nodded curtly. His ears looked a bit redder than the rest of his face, and Lance found himself not minding too much about Allura anymore.

“This wasn't my idea to do that thing about the phone, I swear.”

“Yeah, I know, why would you want my number?” Alright, Lance was completely sure now that Keith's face was a couple of shades darker than it used to be. Weird. “Hey, wait, where's Shay?”

“She said she was gonna meet Hunk to play video games. Didn't he tell you?”

Traitor. “Ah, yeah, of course. I forgot. Must’ve crossed her on the way here.”

“Yeah.”

The silence was more awkward than Lance was used to, and he was the king of awkward silences. Usually, he’d be the one to break them, but he was unable to read Keith enough to do that. Of course, that might be because he was paying more attention than strictly necessary to Keith’s cheeks.

“So, you wanna ride now?”

“Hell yeah, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Keith looked at him, puzzled.

“You just fell down. Have you really seen my videos?”

Lance winced. “Yeah, sorry. Was just trying to get you fired up.”

“Ah. You don’t have to.” Keith kept looking confused.

“You don’t need to do this if you don’t want to, you know? I know riding with a noob must be boring.”

“Of course not!” Keith stepped closer to Lance, suddenly determined. “You’re improving really fast, and teaching you stuff will be fun. I’m working on tutorials too, but it’s hard to see what kind of help beginners need more. Like this, I can get more material for them and improve my current vids. It’s a perfect plan. Fix common mistakes, maybe even do a progress video, it’ll be perfect!”

It was official. Lance was completely, utterly lost as far as reading Keith went. Though, looking at the fire in Keith’s eyes, he found himself not minding all that much.

“Ohh I get it now. You  _ need _ me.”

“I did  _ not  _ say that.”

“I know. You heavily implied it, though,” Lance replied with a smile. Keith looked flustered again, which only made Lance’s grin widen. “It’s fine though, I sorta need your help too, you know.”

“Let’s just start then. Have you ever tried to do cross steps?”

Lance’s smile kinda wavered at that.

“I um. Sort of started doing this a week ago, so-”

“Oh!” Keith’s eyes light up. “Was last week your first time?”

“Sort of...?”

“That’s  _ awesome. _ ”

Lance definitely couldn’t see what was awesome about that. He hoped his blush wasn’t as visible as Keith’s had been, though.

“You think?”

“Yeah, you looked half decent earlier, how much have you been practicing?”

“Um, from time to time, I guess.” 

It wasn't exactly true, but it sounded much cooler than ‘incessantly’. As Lance knew well, there was nothing cooler than looking like you don't give a damn. Keith was the perfect example of this. The more he looked like he didn't give a damn, the more desperately Lance strived for his attention. Lance already knew he had a problem. So sue him.

Keith, however, was paying attention now, and Lance couldn’t help but lean towards it like Keith was the sun.

“Great! So we can do cross steps, and after you have them down maybe we can do a 180 step-”

“Let’s just do cross steps first,” Lance cut him. He didn’t want to fool Keith into thinking he had some sort of natural talent just to let him down harshly later. He wouldn’t be able to deal with it. “I want to get them down well first.”

“Alright, follow me and watch first.”

Immediately, Keith threw the board and jumped on it. The movement managed to look perfectly natural, where Lance practically tripped on his feet trying to follow. Maybe Keith expected him to follow on the board, too, but Lance  _ definitely _ couldn’t ride it and look at Keith at the same time.

He was really, really happy he had long legs.

“You ready?” Keith didn’t comment on Lance’s choice not to ride, for which Lance was thankful. “Look, you pull your front foot to the middle, then cross your back foot over it, cross the other one outside to the front again, then move to the back.”

Lance was distracted just looking at Keith do the step sequence. It looked as nice as in the videos. He’d probably could just watch him do that forever.

“Lance, did you get it?”

“Yeah, of course!” Get what. He hadn’t gotten anything. “Can you repeat it again, though, just in case?”

“Sure.” Keith twirled on the board for absolutely no reason. Lance was running out of breath just following. How could he just move like that? “Pay attention, alright? Front foot back, pass the other one over it, pass this one back to the front, then back to the beginning. That good?”

“Sure, I’m ready to try.” Maybe. In theory. 

Keith then stopped in place. He didn’t even need to step off the board at all to do it. Show off.

With a deep breath, Lance set his board down. He stepped up and pushed, switched to toe side, and-

And-

_ Coño _ .

“Yeah, I don’t know how to do this. Can you do it again, but like, slowly?”

“Sure.” Keith, now next to him, didn’t look even remotely surprised. Lance wanted to hate him for it, but at that moment, he hated himself more. “You want to try in the grass? It could be easier.”

“In the grass? Can you even ride there?”

“No. That’s the point. The board stays still.” Keith smiled. “You really are a complete beginner, aren’t you?”

“Ew, dude, stop rubbing it in. But fine, let’s do that.”

The park, being a  _ park  _ and all, was, fortunately, full of grass. It was a bizarre feeling, though, standing up and feeling the board stay still. Lance already had practice getting stuck on cracks on the road and all that, of course, but this was different. It wasn’t as pointless. Maybe simply because he was doing it on purpose... or because Keith was there.

Maybe because Pidge wasn’t there recording him. That helped, too.

“Sooo, what now?”

Keith repeated the step sequence again, slowly. It almost made sense this time.

“Let’s do it at the same time. Ready?”

Lance followed the steps and-

“Hey, it works.”

Keith laughed.

Keith sounded  _ adorable  _ when he laughed.

Lance, focus.

“Of course it does. Repeat it a couple of times, then we can try on the road again.”

Lance nodded and did that. It wasn’t even that hard. He could picture himself perfectly doing it on the road, which probably meant he wouldn’t be capable to. His brain was really good at getting ahead of himself.

“Alright, got it. Let’s go.”

Back on the road, the moment he tried to cross one foot over the other Lance felt himself lose balance and jumped off the board with a yelp. He barely managed not to smack into Keith or the ground.

“Lance?! What happened? You were doing fine?”

Keith slowed down to a stop, looking, once again, confused. Confused as to how anyone could be such an idiot, clearly. Lance wasn’t sure how his pride would survive the day.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll try again.”

He got on the board.

It happened again.

“Do you want me to hold your hand?”

“No!” Lance didn’t know what was worse. The sincerity of the offer, or the way his heart stammered at the thought. “I can do this, just let me try again, please.”

“Okay.” Lance could almost taste the hesitation in his voice.

“Thanks.”

He didn’t want to look at Keith’s face. He didn’t want to look anywhere. He glared at his board, rolling harmlessly ahead from the impulse. Lance stomped up to it and picked it up.

This time, he managed to cross his back foot over the other.

Turns out, crossing the other one back front was another hell.

Instead of having to jump off, however, the movement seemed to push the board backwards. Lance kept setting his front foot too far ahead. Touching ground, with the board still, and his heart hammering in his chest.

“You’re not rolling fast enough. You need more impulse. Your first tries were actually more stable,” Keith offered after a couple of attempts.

“I almost broke my neck on the ground those first tries!” Lance kicked the ground and sat on his board. He didn’t want to cry in front of Keith. He couldn’t.

“You’re more stable than you think. You just need to adjust to the balance.” Keith moved his board so it was in front of Lance and sat down. “You’re doing great, you know. You’re not supposed to learn a trick in a day.”

“You wanted me to learn two.”

Keith ducked his head. “Yeah, sorry, I got excited. I didn’t mean you needed to do any perfectly, though, just that we could give them a try.”

“Oh.” Now, that made more sense.

“I’ve gotten a lot of feedback on my tutorials, and no one claimed to have learned cross steps on their first day. I promise, you’re doing great.”

Keith leaned forward and set a hand over Lance’s knee. Lance stared at it in confusion, wondering if he was setting his knees wrong or something. Keith, however, just let it lay there, so after a couple of seconds Lance relaxed.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I can practice a lot more.”

“You could practice with me.”

“You only come on fridays though.” Lance probably, definitely, shouldn’t have admitted he knew that.

“Yeah, well, that’s because Shiro’s always busy. He’s doing a double major. It’s awkward with just Allura and I, since, you know, I’m not Shiro. So it’d be great if we could meet more often. I’m sure it’ll take you less than a week to do cross steps, so I can teach you more stuff soon, too, and...”

Keith trailed off. The lighting was much worse at that hour, but Lance was pretty sure he was blushing again. He wasn’t so hard to read, now.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Yeah?” 

Keith was still smiling... and sorta close, now that Lance thought about it. His heart hadn’t slowed down from all the tripping and falling yet.

“I should probably go back now. Make sure Hunk isn’t getting into trouble and all that, you know?” He stood up and stepped back. The air up there was a bit more breathable, somehow. “Are you staying?”

“Uh, no, I’ll go back too.” Keith stood up as well. Lance wished he was still smiling.  “Are we still meeting up tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course! I’ll text you. Or you can text me. Give me your phone, I’ll write my number.”

“Um.” Keith took out his phone. It was the same model as Allura’s. Funny. “Actually, I have your number already. I’ll text you.”

“Not if I text you first.” Lance grinned. It seemed to improve Keith’s mood a little. “See you tomorrow, mullet boy.”

“Yeah, see you too.” Keith paused. “Wait, did you just-”

Lance, however, was already running home before Keith could get to the end of that sentence. Teasing Hunk about his not-date with Shay was a much better use of his time than trying to get Keith to smile. 

Yeah.

If he told himself that enough times, he might even believe it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, you can HMU @varevare (tumblr) @shiroganbatte (twitter) 
> 
> Also thanks to CLDJendis66 and Elsklov for the beta!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone order more pining Keith?

“You've been staring at your phone for ten minutes, Keith. Are you waiting for a message?”

Keith lifted his head to redirect his glare at his brother briefly.

“That's absolutely none of your business, Shiro.”

Shiro leaned on the kitchen island across from him, mirroring Keith's posture. 

“Keith.”

“Shiro.”

“Did something happen with Lance?”

“No, it went fine. I don't know why you’re staring at me like that.”

Because you didn't even ask me how things went with Allura, when normally you wouldn't have let me live.”

“That's because I'm mad at her.”

“Come on, Keith, she apologized.”

“She took my phone!”

“Maybe you'll learn to not keep it in your back pocket like that.” Keith kept glaring at him. “...was Lance really upset about that?”

“Yes. Well. I don't know. He seemed really into her. He didn't say anything, though.”

“Are you upset because of what Allura did, or because Lance is into her?”

“Yes.”

“It wasn't a yes or no question, Keith.”

“So how was your date?”

“Ah, ah. You don't get to change the topic now.” Shiro walked around the table to hug Keith from behind. “Come on, Keith, let it out. What has gotten you so upset?”

A couple of moments of silent struggle passed. Keith hated the way Shiro always won at this part. Keith never had the patience.

“He's  _ cute _ ,” he finally spat out before burying his head in his arms. “He's really cute, Shiro.”

Shiro cooed, and Keith regretted ever talking to him. He twisted to escape the hold.

“You're the worst brother ever and I  _ hate _ you.”

Acting like he hadn’t heard anything, Shiro picked him up and put him on the sofa. Being the shortest friend was awful.

“Now, you're going to tell me about how it went.”

“No, I won't, because you're all  _ traitors _ and left me alone with Lance.” Keith huffed and crossed his arms. “We should be talking about you and Allura.”

“You missed your chance when you were sulking with your phone. So, how did it go?”

“It went fine.” Keith shrugged. “We were practicing cross-steps. He doesn't have them yet but he's learning really fast. Maybe he surfs, I have to ask him if he surfs. His deck looks like a surfboard. It's a cheap one, I guess it's normal because he's just learning, but it doesn't have a lot of flex, and the grip is really strong. I should let him borrow one of mine next time. You think he'll like the Walzer? He’s probably going to lose his balance a lot. I'm sure he'll squeak. He always squeaks when he thinks he's going to fall over and when he smiles it lights up his whole face and- Shiro. I see your lip wobbling.”

“I'm sorry, I can't help it, it's so cute. You kept speeding up.”

“...I'm screwed, right?”

“Nonsense, Keith. When are you going to meet up again? Did you invite him to come with us next week?” Shiro frowned when Keith didn't answer. “Keeeith. You asked him if he wanted to meet up again, right?”

“Why do you think I was glaring at my phone,” Keith muttered.

“Oh, come on.” Shiro walked off to grab Keith's phone and dropped it onto his lap. “You have Thursday off, right? Ask him if he's got time, and if not, if he wants to meet up with all of us next Friday. That way I can get to know him.” 

Shiro's smile made a shiver run down Keith's back.

“Oh no. No concerned older brother questions, Shiro. You always either scare them off or make them fall for you. Stay  _ away _ from him.”

“Well, if you don't tell him anything we'll probably run into him next Friday anyway, so you better ask him out on Thursday before that.”

Shiro's angelic smile hid a devil. It was terrible how he'd managed to fool everyone for twenty something years. Keith, however, Keith  _ knew _ .

“ _ Fine _ , I'll text him, happy?”

“Yes. Knock him off his feet, Keith. I'm off to take a shower.”

“You still have questions to answer about Allura!” Keith called after him.

“You lost your chance!” Shiro replied back. Like that’d work.

Keith, however, went back to the matter at hand for the time being. 

“What do I tell him?”

“I don't know, Keith, tell him you had fun today.” Shiro's voice came muffled through the door. “I'm not going to text your boyfriend for you.”

“Oh shut up,” Keith protested, sinking back down against the sofa. He stared at Lance’s contact information for a while.

     (22:37) **Keith:** I had fun today

Immediately, he threw the phone on top of the sofa. It lay there innocently, unaffected by Keith's glare. Oh god, what if Lance thought Keith was acting weird? What if he never replied? Had Keith been too obvious earlier?

He wasn't able to keep wondering long, though, because less than a minute later his screen lit up again. And, since Shiro wasn't there to see it, Keith jumped on it to read it.

     (22:37)  **Lance:** cool

     (22:38)  **Lance:** me too dude

That was good, right? It sounded good. Was Lance just being polite? Keith needed to reply fast.

     (22:38)  **Keith:** would you like to meet up again?

     (22:38)  **Keith:** for longboarding I mean

That was probably too fast. Had he creeped Lance out? If Shiro was available he'd tell Keith he was overthinking everything. He'd also tease him to death. Allura would probably just take his phone off his hands and text Lance herself. Maybe he could ask Shay, except for the fact that she might still be at Lance’s room -and what were the odds, really, that she knew Lance’s best friend?

     (22:41)  **Lance:** duh ;)

     (22:41)  **Lance:** lets

     (22:42)  **Lance:** when are you free?

     (22:42)  **Keith:** Thursday

     (22:43)  **Keith:** my only class that day got cancelled

     (22:43)  **Lance:** damn, lucky

     (22:43)  **Keith:** why?

     (22:46)  **Lance:** got a test that day

     (22:46)  **Lance:** so I gotta pass

     (22:47)  **Keith:** okay, good luck

With a sigh, Keith set the phone on the table and walked back to his room. He knew he should be inviting Lance to come hang out with everyone on Friday, and he would, but he needed a break. He wasn't good at making friends. Every new message was nerve wracking. It was even worse than replying to messages about his videos, because he actually cared what Lance thought about him. 

He'd do some maintenance and then casually invite Lance, like the idea just sprang up in his mind instead of mulling it over for hours. Yeah.

Next thing he knew, Shiro was knocking on his door half an hour later.

“Keith, I don't know what you did, but your phone says you have, like, a dozen messages from Lance.”

“Shit, don't write anything!” Keith yelled, rushing out.

Shiro kept laughing behind him when he picked up the phone.

     (22:48)  **Lance:** thanks!!

     (22:49)  **Lance:** we can still meet on Friday tho

     (22:49)  **Lance:** right?

     (22:54)  **Lance:** or are you busy?

     (23:07)  **Lance:** are you mad at me? 

     (23:07)  **Lance:** ;(

     (23:07)  **Lance:** I was serious when I said I'd like to meet up for practice again

     (23:08)  **Lance:** I wouldn't say no to Thursday if this test wasn't such a big deal, I swear

     (23:09)  **Lance:** I'm sorryyyy

     (23:15)  **Lance:** I'll make it up to you I promise

     (23:15)  **Lance:** coffee or whatever

     (23:21)  **Keith:** sorry!

     (23:21)  **Keith:** Friday sounds good

     (23:21)  **Lance:** Keith, my buddy!

     (23:22)  **Lance:** haha now I feel like a dumbass for worrying like that

“Yeah, unlike someone I know,” Shiro commented over Keith's shoulder.

“Shiro! Stop gossiping!” Keith squeaked, elbowing him in the gut before rushing back inside his bedroom. 

     (23:23)  **Keith:** yeah, sorry I disappeared on you 

     (23:24)  **Keith:** we usually meet up at the entrance at 4

     (23:24)  **Keith:** and grab dinner together later

     (23:24)  **Keith:** that alright?

     (23:24)  **Lance:** yeah, great

     (23:25)  **Lance:** can hunk and pidge come too?

     (23:25)  **Keith:** sure :)

     (23:26)  **Lance:** great, see you on Friday! :3

“Hey, Keith, remember when you told me learning tricks from Allura would be romantic?”

“Will you  _ shut up.” _

-

Friday came over sooner than Keith expected. One day he was laying around in bed enjoying his free day, literally the next he was stressing over what to do with his hair. Shiro had left after Keith locked him out of his room. Keith hadn’t appreciated his input about his collection of beanies.

Admittedly, Lance seemed more like a snapback kind of person. Beanies might fall off suddenly, too, which would leave his hair free for everyone to see- and his phone was buzzing.

(15:56)  **Lance:** sooo I know I’m here a bit early but I wasn’t sure if 4 meant everyone be there at 4 or let’s start getting there at 4

(15:56)  **Lance:** but are you coming soon?

(15:57) **Keith:** I’ll be right there

A ponytail would have to do. Pocketing his phone, Keith practically sprinted outside and jumped on his board the moment he was on the street. It wasn’t like Shiro to not be on time, and Keith had already decided to stop him from talking to Lance any way he could.

Somehow, he managed to spot Lance and, apparently, his friends, before Shiro got there. They were all busy talking. Keith couldn’t tell what it was about, but Lance kept denying something over and over, not looking too happy. Keith wished it was just the two of them again. Feeling awkward, he waited on the side for a gap in the conversation.

“Hey, Lance.”

“Keith!” Lance turned around, pausing when he made eye contact. It was so brief Keith could’ve just imagined it, because a fraction of a second later, he was smiling. Keith immediately breathed easier. “Look, these two are Pidge and Hunk, Hunk’s my roommate and Pidge is just an acquaintance you should definitely not listen to.”

The shortest one snickered, unaffected by Lance’s glare, and Hunk offered him a handshake.

“Yeah, Shay has told me about you. And nice to meet you, Pidge.”

“Lance has told us  _ a lot _ about you too, Keith.”

Something about the way Pidge said it made Keith start sweating under his collar, and he was thankful he had opted out of wearing a hat.

“Really?” He glanced at Lance, who was resolutely staring at the ground. “What about?”

Before he could get a reply, though, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Keith barely managed not to jump, and turned around to find himself face to face with a smiling Allura.

“We’ve arrived!” she said, putting her arms around Keith. It was difficult to stay mad at her. “Did you wait long?”

“No, not at all.”

Lance smiled at her. Keith wished even harder Shiro would just start dating Allura already. It was impossible to get noticed at all hanging around people like them. They needed to be off the market, pronto.

“Keith, you're glaring,” Shay said behind him. Keith turned around, startled out of his thoughts. “He's just introducing them to Pidge and Hunk. Are you jealous already?”

Keith opened his mouth. He knew Shay was able to catch when he was lying every time, though, and he couldn't think of anything that wasn't true and not a confession, so he shut it up in silence.

“Keith, come on,” she huffed, amused, before grabbing his arm to pull him closer to the group. “Hey, Allura, now that we're all here, why don't Lance and Keith roll off somewhere to practice? You and Shiro promised to let me record you this time. Keith alone isn't enough for any portfolio.”

“Oh, does that mean we get to see the practice while you're busy?” Pidge asked with a sharp smile. Keith felt a surge of protectiveness in him as he saw Lance curl up on himself.

“Pidge, don't be-”

“Actually, you two would be great help setting everything up, the tripod always gives me issues.” Shay squeezed Keith's wrist reassuringly. “It won't take too long, and I'd really appreciate it.”

Hunk agreed immediately to the plan, and Keith took advantage of the distraction to tug on Lance's jacket, pointing at the back. A couple of minutes later, they were out of sight in a small patch of road outside the main routes. The ground was less smooth, but with the way Lance relaxed once they were hidden Keith didn't even think about suggesting an alternative.

“Hey, so um. Did you have a chance to practice?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Lance's eyes shone when they met Keith's. “I actually have them pretty much down by now! I should've told you to teach me more stuff, I can get them down on my own after I know the basics,so-”

“We could also meet up more often,” Keith replied, too fast. “I mean, since finals are over, I got time. And it was fun, last time.”

Lance was looking at him strangely.  _ Good work, Keith, you blew it. He's probably straight, and you're as obvious as one can be. _

But then, Lance smiled.

“Sure, dude, I'd like that.”

An  _ ohhhh _ sound in the background was quickly silenced. Keith glanced away from Lance's shining, perfect teeth to see Hunk holding his hand over Pidge's mouth.

“Great. So. Let's get going?” Keith wasn't sure he trusted his friends with Lance's friends. He trusted Shay. Maybe.

With a small wave, he started walking until he and Lance were on a smaller road off to the side of the park. The trees were denser here. When his brain suggested the word  _ intimate _ Keith stomped it down.

“So, want to show me what you can do?”

“Hell yeah, prepare yourself to be blown away,” Lance replied confidently.

Pushing himself, he got on the table and did the trick twice, the second time smoother than the first. Lance turned his head back to shoot Keith a bright smile that Keith couldn't help but return.

“See?! I-” right then, the board seemed to catch on something, making Lance lose his balance, and falling onto the grass along the path.

Keith dropped his backpack and board on the ground and ran towards him. 

“Shit, Lance, are you-?” He breathed in relief when he saw the other boy lift a hand with a thumbs up.

“Peachy.” Lance sat up, seemingly unharmed except for the blush on his face. “Sorry about that. But, I made it, see?”

Keith laughed.

“Lance, you did fantastic. I'm proud.” He offered Lance a hand to pull himself up. Lance, weirdly silent, took it. “Do you want to see anything in particular next, or keep practicing these?”

“More stuff, obviously,” Lance huffed, avoiding eye contact as he went to check his board.

“Is your board okay?”

“Yeah, it was just a crack on the pavement. I didn't see it coming, I was... distracted. Sorta.”

Keith looked at him for a moment.

“You know, you should get a helmet.”

The long groan he got in response startled him.

“Not you too!” Lance slouched on the ground. “Hunk keeps giving me pain about it. What would I even need it for? We're not doing anything risky.”

“Helmets are important!” Keith crossed his arms and leaned over Lance. “Another crack on the ground and a tree in the wrong place, and you're screwed.”

“You don't have one either!”

“I don't-” Keith stopped himself before completing the sentence, but Lance's eyes snapped up anyway.

“What? What were you gonna say?” Shit, that pout was adorable.

“I don't really... trip?”

“Aaargh I knew it! You're such a jerk,” Lance huffed dramatically. “Anyway, my finances have barely recovered after getting the textbooks for this semester, there's no way I can afford a helmet now.”

“I have a bunch. Some stores gave them to me to promote them.” It probably wasn't nice not to wear them, now that he thought about it. “I could let you borrow one.”

“Really? Oh, man, are you like the Instagram girls that get paid to say ‘this tea will make you skinny’ and all that?”

“No! They just want their products to be seen in the videos, I don't do reviews or promos.”

“But you get free shit?”

Keith sighed. “Yes, Lance, I get free shit.”

“Awesome!” Lance's smile could've blinded the sun. “I love freebies. You gotta show me all your stuff, man, I'm sure you have like, five boards or something.”

“Um.” Keith thought back to his bedroom. He could probably put together a dozen complete decks with all the parts he had, even though he'd never use some of them. “Sure, why not.”

“ _ Awesome. _ So, did I pass cross-stepping?”

“Yep. What do you want to do next?”

“Let's do peter-pans, pretty please with a cherry on top?”

Keith couldn't help but snicker.

“Sounds good. Watch me do them first, and pay attention.”

-

It was three hours later when Keith and Lance walked back to the others. The group was sitting in the grass near the fountain, suspiciously not recording anything. Lance was out of breath and had a couple more bruises. Keith’s heart kept fluttering whenever Lance smiled at him. Really, nothing new.

“Guys! You're playing cards against humanity without me?” Lance protested, rushing towards them.

“Oh, we didn't think you'd want us to interrupt you and  _ Keith _ ,” Pidge replied smoothly, putting a card down. Keith glanced at Lance, worried he regretted spending so much time with him. “Hunk, you're the tsar this round.”

“Pidge, look, I'm sorry, but Keith's a hundred times cooler than you. And yet, this is a betrayal.”

Shiro made eye contact with Keith, and, even though the cards covered his mouth, Keith knew he was smirking. Keith glared at him. He hoped his hair was long enough to cover his cheeks.

“So, how did the video go?” He asked Shay meekly.

“Oh, I got some great content! Editing won't be hard. It won't be done until tomorrow, though, because we’re all going to get food later. You're coming, right?”

“Sure,” Keith replied with a nod, and scooted closer to watch the game.

“Man, I'm starving. What do you guys usually get?” Lance asked from Hunk’s side. Keith loved his friends dearly, but right at that moment, he wished they’d all go elsewhere again. The circle of cards kept them too far apart for Keith’s liking.

“There's a great diner three blocks down from here, we always go there on Fridays,” Allura offered, putting her card down. Hunk started turning them all face up. “It's great for big groups, and the pizzas are to die for. Would you all like to come as well?”

“Hell yes,” Lance replied immediately. Keith looked between him and Allura. He really, really didn't feel like pizza. Having a crush was a pain in the ass.

“Let's finish this round and go, it's getting dark anyway,” Hunk suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement, and that was it. They kept chatting and getting scandalized at the cards. Keith did his best to follow the game. Half an hour later, they were leaving the park, Lance standing next to Allura discussing the benefits of pineapple pizza.

Maybe with enough beer Shiro would finally kiss Allura. Or at least, Keith would survive seeing Lance making eyes at her all night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, thanks a lot to @winterysomnium for the beta!
> 
> Second, I'm so sorry this chapter took so long, it's the longest one yet and still only has half the events I wanted to have in it. It ran away from me, there's no excuse. The next one is already started, though, so please look forward to it too! These dumb boys have my heart.
> 
> HMU   
> tumblr @varevare   
> twitter @shiroganbatte


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Lance continues to be a fool, but Keith, fortunately, isn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The holidays have murdered me I'm sorry abt the delay D; quality content though, I promise :3c

Lance had been perfectly happy chatting with Allura until Hunk interrupted him. If saying ‘lemme borrow Lance for a sec’ and dragging him away forcibly could be called ‘interrupting’. Disrupting the peace, more like. Submitting him to unnecessary public humiliation. Cockblocking.

“Hey, Lance, so, don't you think you owe us an explanation?” Hunk whispered to him once they were at the back of the group. They were all making their way to the restaurant, but the bigger the group the harder it was to move fast.

Pidge seemed to want to step back and join as well, but Shay was talking to her, and one can't just ignore Shay. No matter how juicy the gossip.

“Explain what? I already told you what happened with the fries was an accident.”

“And I still don't believe you, but that's not what I meant. What's up with you and Keith?”

Lance's back straightened up immediately. He could see Pidge glancing from time to time back, which was just making him tenser. 

“I don't know, Hunk, what's up with you? I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Oh come on, you know perfectly what I mean. Didn't you, like, hate him? Wanted to show him what you've got?”

“Stop moving your eyebrows like that!” Lance snapped, reaching up to try to physically still them. “I didn't say I hated him, alright? And I'm still gonna show him how good I can be at this, too. It simply turns out he's helping.”

“Sure he is.” Hunk smiled sweetly. “So, nothing going on? You sure?”

“Well, he also has hot friends. One of which I was talking to before you interrupted me with your nonsense, Hunk!” His voice got a higher pitch at the end of the sentence, making everyone else turn towards them.

“Everything alright, guys?” Shiro asked them.

Lance still didn't trust him. Too much perfection in a single body. (Damn Lance, u right about that.)

“Yeah, nothing to worry about. How far are we from this place?”

“The dinner is right at the next turn, we'll see it soon.”

“Are you guys hungry? I'm starving,” Hunk added, effectively ending the awkward conversation.

“Starving,” Allura replied with a smile. “We're almost there, though.”

“Awesome.”

Lance stayed behind watching everyone else interact. There  was an uneasy feeling growing in his throat, watered by Hunk’s questions. Was Keith taking advantage of Lance? Did they think Lance was taking advantage of him? Keith had already spent two days helping him personally, and Lance was sure he had better things to do. Or maybe it was all part of a big inside joke? Were they posting funny videos of him? Lance knew Hunk better than that, or so he thought.

He looked at the back of Keith's head as they walked inside the restaurant and right then Keith turned around to look at him. Their eyes made contact. 

Lance hurriedly looked away.

“Hey guys! Take a seat already!” Pidge had already claimed the biggest table in the place.

Shiro and Allura sat together. Lance would like to say he was surprised, but couldn't. He tried to head to the other side of the table to sit next to Hunk, but he was shoved unceremoniously aside by Pidge to let Shay take it. And, since Keith had been talking to her the whole way, he took the seat next to her, leaving Lance stuck between Shiro and Keith and in front of Pidge and Hunk. The two of which gave him a thumbs up. Lance sat gingerly.

This was turning out to be a very confusing afternoon.

When the waitress came over to take their order, they agreed to get a couple of pitchers to share. Pidge, after some grumbling, settled for water.

“Hey Keith, this places really cool.” Lance grinned at him. “Cheap beer, cute waitresses, we have to come here more often.”

“Good to know,” Keith snapped, and downed his glass in one gulp. The abrupt reaction left Lance feeling even more out of place than before.

“Ah, sorry. Do you have a thing for her? She's really cute, I can't blame you. Don't worry though! I'm not gonna pull any moves on her or anything, I'm not that kind of asshole,” he tried to explain, but Keith's face only darkened. Across the table, Pidge wouldn't stop snickering at him, which didn’t help matters.

“What does that face even mean?” He muttered at her, but she only waved him off and turned to talk to Hunk.

“You can ask for her number if you want to,” Keith muttered, his expression downright murderous.

There was no way Lance was going to ask for any numbers that night.

 

* * *

 

That bump aside, the dinner didn’t go as bad as he had feared. The beer was indeed, cheap, and Keith’s mood seemed to lift up once the waitress was out of the way. Lance glanced once or twice at her blonde pigtails, but even so he wasn’t too distracted. Keith was laughing at his jokes, which was definitely a better use of his time than checking anyone else out.

“And then we realized it was his wig trying to leave his hair from all the wind!” Lance declared. There were tears in Keith’s eyes. Even Allura seemed slightly interested, though her hand hadn’t left Shiro’s arm for the last twenty minutes. Lance found he didn’t care anymore. “But of course, Hunk here had to be way too nice and actually tell him. I was hoping for it to fly away.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you,” Hunk complained. “Are you never gonna let that one go?”

“You crushed my dreams, Hunk!” Lance slammed his hand on the table. Keith was using his other arm for balance, so Lance couldn’t move it. He suspected Keith might’ve drunk too much. It was a bit weird, because, even though he was sitting down, his whole weight seemed to be on Lance. However, it wasn't uncomfortable. Lance could get used to this. “I will let it go when you go back in time to avoid stealing my chance to see Mr Hobson’s wig fly back to its home planet.”

“That’s not very nice, Lance,” Shay attempted to lecture him. She was, however, smiling, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol too.

“Yes, but I can get away with it since I’m such a lovely person.”

Keith giggled again. Lance smiled down at him, ignoring Pidge’s ‘ew, gross’.

“I think it’s time to ask for the check,” Shiro suggested. Very nice of him. All muscley.

Lance’s thoughts weren’t running as straight as he’d like at that moment.

“Hell yeah, let’s get that check,” Pidge declared, getting up from the table to look for the waitress.

“Hey, Shay, want me to walk you back? It’s getting dark already,” Hunk offered. He didn’t even realize what it sounded like, the poor soul.

“Don’t worry, I’m going with Allura. You live at the dorms, right? Maybe you should go with Pidge, she’s got to do all the walk back on her own.”

“Oh.” Hunk seemed to think for a minute. “Wait, can’t she walk back with Lance? We’re all in the same building.”

“Can’t, Lance has to go with Keith, he lives too far to go all the way alone,” Shay replied right away. She didn’t sound as drunk as Lance had thought she was. “And we need Shiro to come with us.”

For some reason, Keith released Lance’s arm to hug her. Alright, maybe Shay was right. Keith was in no condition to walk home alone.

“But what about-”

Pidge used that exact moment to appear and slap the ticket on the table. “Alright, everyone, it’s ten bucks each, I want to see all those bills here in the next thirty seconds.”

Keith finally released Shay from his hug to look for his wallet. It took him way more than thirty seconds to do so, and with all the fumbling, they didn’t leave the diner until ten minutes later.

“Well, time to go. Keith, do you remember the way home?” Shay prodded him. Lance couldn’t avoid wondering what Keith’s room was like. Was it covered in merchandise? A palace? One of those fancy lofts youtube stars always seemed to have?

“I’m fine, Shay. Thank you so much, you’re the best,” Keith replied, giving her another hug. Then he hugged Shiro. Then he hugged Allura. Maybe that was how he said goodbye to all his friends. Then he hugged Hunk, which was understandable since Hunk gave the best hugs. Then he tried to hug Pidge, but Pidge was too fast, and started dragging Hunk away.

“Goodbye, Lance, take good care of Keith! I’ll see you in class tomorrow!”

Lance nodded and waved, and slowly, the group broke apart, everyone going their own way. Soon after, it was just him and Keith, carrying their boards under their arms in the empty streets. Empty enough that Keith had suggested riding them all the way home. Lance had barely managed to stop him.

“Hey, why do you think Pidge say we’d see each other in class tomorrow? Isn’t tomorrow Saturday?” Keith asked him. He looked so lost, with his eyes staring straight at Lance. “Man, I don’t want to have class tomorrow.”

“I don’t know, she probably has some extra classes. She’s crazy. Goes to too many classes. That’s the reason she can’t drink alcohol, she’s tiny. I bet that’s the reason she wanted to leave.” Lance shrugged. “I mean, she was third wheeling Hunk and Shay and Shiro and Allura, but so were we, and we weren’t so snappy. ‘Cause we weren’t snappy, right?”

Keith shook his head with determination. Enough determination that he made himself dizzy, and Lance had to grab his arm to stop him from running into a streetlamp.

“You’re not snappy. You’re really sweet.” Keith proclaimed. Lance’s cheeks heated up, for some reason. He’d have to ask Keith for a glass of water when they got there.

“Right. By the way, how much further do we have to go? I don’t actually know this area?”

“Oh, it’s that building.” Keith pointed to a nice apartment building across the street. “At least, I think so. If the key works, that’s the building.”

“Alright, good to know.”

They made their way (stumbled through the street) there. The key, indeed, worked. Keith pointed to the elevator and pushed the button. Hopefully, muscle memory was more reliable than his regular one.

“This building is pretty nice, by the way.” Lance looked around. His own family had only lived in houses, and through college he hadn’t known much about life outside the dorms. “Do you live here with Shiro?”

“Yeah, our parents are paying for most of it, though.”

Keith leaned against Lance as the elevator went up. He didn’t smell bad at all, for someone who spent all day in the park and drinking beer. Lance told him so. Keith giggled again, which shoot Lance’s spirits through the roof. 

“By the way, do you mind if I get some water? I’m a bit thirsty.”

“Yeah, sure. If there’s a mess, it’s all Shiro’s fault, alright,” Keith warned, exiting the elevator. The key, miraculously, worked again, and the two of them made their way inside.

The first thing Lance noticed was that the place was, definitely, not messy. Second, it wasn’t at all like the fancy youtuber apartments Lance often saw.

Third, it smelled like Keith. The thought shouldn’t have made him feel as warm as he did. Dehydration setting in, probably.

“Here’s the kitchen.” Keith walked around the counter, which was perfectly visible from the entrance. For some reason, Lance found it endearing. “There’s water in the fridge, you can just get a bottle. I’m going to the bathroom for a sec.”

Lance nodded and made his way there. He didn’t snoop around the fridge (much). Healthy foods and fresh ingredients. Maybe he should revamp his diet. He drank a bit of the water and looked around the room. The door Keith disappeared through had to be the bathroom, leaving the other two as Shiro’s bedroom and Keith’s.

It took all Lance had to not try to get into either.

The pictures on the wall, however, caught his attention. There was a picture of Keith and Shiro with, apparently, his parents. Keith, age 5 tops, with his first skateboard. Keith graduating from high school. Shiro winning some sort of competition that would surely make Lance question his own manliness. Keith with a group of friends, some of which Lance had seen that first day, some not. In short, Keith’s life all over the walls of the small space. Lance briefly wondered if he’d ever make it to those walls as well and determined he was too drunk for this, downing the whole bottle of water at once.

“Hey, you alright?” Keith walked out of the bathroom, his hair a bit wet. It was even messier than usual. Not that Lance had a tendency to notice Keith’s hair or anything.

“Yeah, I’m great. Thanks for the water. I should be getting home now, though. Hunk’s gonna worry otherwise.”

Lance picked up his board again. He didn’t know what to do with the bottle. Noticing his predicament, Keith went to open the door to the apartment, and held it open for him. Lance tried to slip through the narrow space.

“Wait.” Keith stopped him when he was practically out of the door, grabbing the front of his sweater. Lance turned to face him, confused.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for walking me in,” Keith said. He stood up on his tiptoes, and the next thing Lance felt was a warm, soft pressure against his lips.

Oh.

OH.

Before his brain fully processed what was happening, though, Keith stepped back and closed the door in his face.

Lance stood there like a fool, a board in one hand, an empty bottle in the other, and his lips tingling, tasting like beer and cherries. Mental breakdown in the works.

The only thing clear in his mind was that he was completely, utterly and irremediably screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot to lacross-exe for the beta!!!
> 
> As usual, you can hit me up with comments, suggestions, etc  
> tumblr @varevare  
> twitter @shiroganbatte


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Aftermath(TM)
> 
> Alternative title: in which Lance suffers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 2 is upon us oh my god

The walk back home happened in a daze. Lance wasn’t even sure how he got to his room, just that he somehow unlocked the door. Hunk had already arrived but hadn’t gotten into bed yet. Perfect.

“Huuuunk,” Lance whined, throwing himself onto his friend’s bed, “I need your love, support and advice.”

“I can barely hear you if you bury your face against the pillow. Come on, Lance, we’ve talked about this.”

Lance raised his head with a huff.

“I’m having a  _ crisis _ , Hunk, you could be more considerate.”

Hunk sighed wearily and sat on the edge of the bed next to Lance.

“Let me guess. You’re not going to move or let me lie down until I listen to your troubles.”

“Look Hunk, I know you’re disappointed about not walking Shay home, but this is way way  _ way  _ more important.” He took a deep breath. “Keith kissed me.”

“Okay.”

“What do you mean  _ okay _ ?!” Lance sat back and threw his arms up. Hunk didn’t change his peaceful expression. Damn him. “There’s nothing okay about this! What did he mean?”

“Lance, come on. We all knew he liked you.”

“We? Who’s we? This is news to me! Where would you get that idea? Did he tell you that? Have you been talking about me behind my back? Is that it?”

He wasn’t panicking at Hunk’s answer. Looking back at it, he had started panicking the moment Keith closed the door. He stood up and started pacing around the room. He tripped over the board a couple of times until Hunk shoved it away, but it didn’t pause Lance’s crisis.

Why had Keith done that? Lance knew he liked leaning close to people and touching their arms and the like, but Lance did too. The peck was a bit over the top even for him. Keith was a different person than him, though. Maybe he pecked people all the time. He’d have to ask. Who could he ask about that? Shay would know, right? But Shay wasn’t there and he needed to know  _ now. _ Did he even have Shay’s number? She might be sleeping. Whatever, Saturday has no classes.

“Lance, you’re  _ not _ texting Shay at two in the morning to ask her if Keith goes around pecking everyone. Also, are you even aware you’re speaking out loud?” Hunk seemed utterly unimpressed by Lance’s babble. Not the first time he’d seen it.

“I’m brainstorming, Hunk!”

“You’re a storm alright.” Hunk shook his head. Now that Lance was off his bed, he used the chance to get inside, looking entirely more comfortable than any person with empathy towards Lance should be. At least, in Lance’s opinion. “Come on, you don’t need to ask her. We all know Keith likes you, Lance. Why else would he put up with you, willingly, for hours at a time, when he practically has a fanclub?”

“I’m a likeable person, Hunk, I don’t get why you think Keith wanting to hang out with me is some sort of mystery. I’m an extremely charming guy.”

“You also say you’re seductive. I don’t see the problem.” Hunk’s last word was cut off by a yawn.

“Come on, Hunk! It came completely out of the blue!”

“No it didn’t. He’s been holding onto you all night.”

“He said his arm was tired from carrying the board around. That’s hardly flirting, that’s gravity.”

“That was not gravity, Lance, come on.” Hunk sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. It was an expression Lance had become long acquainted with during their friendship. “He even put his head on your shoulder from time to time. He laughed at all your jokes!”

“It was really late, he was sleepy, and  _ my jokes are funny _ .”

“They  _ are _ , but that wasn’t a ‘damn, that’s the best joke ever’ laugh. It was a ‘oh my god you’re so cute I could listen to you forever’ laugh.”

Lance drew a blank.

“That’s-”

Still blank. His cheeks were burning red, and his mind was completely blank.

“Seriously, the puppy look is endearing, but after a while I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to pick up on it by yourself.”

Lance sat on his bed in silence. After a minute, Hunk spoke again.

“I guess the actual question here is whether or not you like Keith.”

That shook Lance out of his stupor.

“Hunk. Shit. I think I like Keith.” He stared at Hunk helplessly. “What do I  _ do _ ?”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Hunk shrugged and turned away from Lance, completely hidden under the blankets. “You should meet up again soon, right? Every Friday? Talk to him about it and solve it out.”

“That’s much easier said than done! You haven’t even told Shay you like her yet!”

“W-Well, that’s different!” Hunk rolled back towards Lance. Lance was happy to see he wasn’t the only one with a blush now. “You know Keith likes you!”

“Because you say so!”

“Because I’m a person with eyes and he  _ kissed _ you goodbye when you walked him home.”

“ _ Fine _ . But I still have to see how he reacts the next time we see each other. What if he regrets it? He was tipsy, he closed the door in my face right after,  _ we didn’t even say anything about it _ .”

“Then you  _ wait  _ and  _ see how he reacts _ the next time you see each other. Come on, Lance, just get some rest. You’re making me anxious just looking at you.”

“Ugh. You win. But only because I’m tired.”

“Of course I win,” Hunk replied, sounding entirely too satisfied with himself. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to sleep my Saturday away.”

-

Lance knew he wasn’t the best at working under pressure. He had an extreme case of  _ feet in mouth _ syndrome since he’d first started talking, and it hadn’t gotten better with the years. It made him more insecure when important words had to be said.

So he said none the whole week, and only texted Keith a couple of times to confirm they were still meeting up next Friday. Apparently, Keith didn’t feel like talking much either. He mentioned preparing the semester’s longboarding meet up, which was apparently a  _ thing _ . Lance hadn’t even heard of it before. Then again, he’d never been even remotely close to the scene before.

Hunk managed to convince him Keith probably wanted to discuss things in person just like Lance was going to. Lance latched onto that to survive the next week, and after entirely too many days, he texted Keith he was on his way there.

Keith was waiting already. He smiled the moment he saw Lance, which Lance decided was a good sign.

“Hey. Ready for a bit more of practice?” The circles under Keith’s eyes seemed a bit darker than the last time he saw him. His hair stuck out in weird ways under the beanie, and the sweatshirt he wore was entirely too big on his frame. He was complete and utterly adorable in Lance’s eyes.

Shit, he had it bad. How could he have not noticed before?

“You bet!” Lance grinned. “I’m going to wipe the floor with you.”

Keith laughed and started walking, holding onto Lance’s sleeve to pull him along. “We’ll see about that. By the way, you’re coming to the meet up, right?”

“Am I invited?”

“Of course! I’ve been putting flyers and posters around all week. It’s next Sunday. It’s not going to be too big, the one during the first semester was too much. It ran me to the ground.”

“Oh, right.” Lance knew nothing. He should’ve paid more attention to Keith’s social media, or something. “That meet up. So, is it gonna be close by?”

Keith sent him a look, the corner of his mouth lifting up. “You have no idea what meet ups I’m talking about, right?”

“...yeah, no.”

“It’s fine, I’m glad I can take you to your first one then. But you have to make me proud, do you hear?”

“Ha! You wish. I’ll make you look bad in comparison. Step aside, Gyeong. Sánchez is the new king of the hill.”

Keith laughed again. Lance’s spirits couldn’t possibly rise much higher. Practice, in fact, went swimmingly. Couple of bruises aside. Alright, maybe a dozen. Swimmingly. Keith kept smiling. Lance didn’t break his head open against the pavement. He couldn’t ask for anything more from life.

After a couple of hours, they were panting, sitting on the curb and leaning against each other. Yeah, Lance had no complaints.

“Man, there’s a lot of jumping.”

“Because you keep tripping,” Keith teased. “It’s good, though. You’re more confident with the board now. Not so scared of falling.”

“I’m  _ never _ scared.” Lance patted his chest. “A little crack on the ground isn’t going to defeat me.”

“You squealed though. Yelled something in Spanish. Scandalous.”

“I did not!”

Keith glanced at him and snorted. “Whatever makes you feel better, Lance.”

“It does.”

“You do that then.” Keith leaned away from Lance to grab his backpack and started searching inside. “Ah, before I forget, look, I saved you a flyer.”

“Oh, awesome.” Lance checked the glossy paper Keith handed him. It featured a screencap of one of Keith’s videos, which meant it was going onto Lance’s corkboard now. “Wow, Shay designed this, huh? It’s good.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool.”

“I’m gonna keep it.” He grinned at Keith. “I see your face is a major selling point, though.”

“That’s not-!” Keith scrunched up his face in a pout. “She said she wanted to showcase her own portfolio, and professional pics are important. We can’t just show words and words.”

“I’m not complaining.” At that, Keith sputtered, but he didn’t stop Lance from pocketing the flier. They were silent for a minute afterwards, and all of Lance’s previous plans came back to him in a rush. The easy interactions and banter had managed to force them into the backseat, but there was nothing stopping them now. “So, Keith.”

Oh God. Hopefully his voice wasn’t as awkward as it sounded to his own ears.

“Yeah?”

“About last Friday- Do you remember-”

“Oh, right! I almost forgot.” Keith slapped himself on the forehead and grabbed his backpack again.

Was he gonna taser him? Oh man. Lance hoped he wasn’t.

“Here!” Keith turned around with a bright smile... and a bright blue helmet between his hands. “Remember how I told you I got enough to spare from the sponsors? This one matches your board perfectly!”

“Oh.” Lance blinked. “Cool.”

“Do you like it?” Keith’s eyes were practically shining with the eagerness, and all the thoughts Lance had of having a difficult conversation fell off a cliff.

“Yeah, it’s... it’s awesome. I love it.” Lance took it and put it on.

“The other way around, you dumbass,” Keith laughed, reaching to fix it. The smell of dirt and sweat reached Lance, and the only thing he wanted to do was reach for Keith’s waist and pull him closer.

But he couldn’t, because he was a coward who couldn’t ask a boy if he liked him back.

“There, all ready to go. Is it comfortable?”

“Sure, it’s great.” Lance knocked on it with his knuckles. “Yep, can’t feel anything.”

“Awesome. I wouldn’t want you getting injured.”

“Yup. But you promised you’d wear one too.”

Keith sighed. “I know, but I barely remembered to grab yours. The flyers took up a lot of space. I promise I’ll wear one at the meet up. Same brand, so we can match. Sounds good?”

Lance managed to smile back at Keith.

“Yeah, sounds perfect. Are you going now, or do we keep practicing?”

“I’m afraid I still have to hit a couple of stores outside campus. Shiro’s been talking to the city hall and the suppliers and doing all the paperwork, but I still have a lot to do.” 

Keith stood up, stretching his arms above his head, and Lance rushed up as well. Keith was leaving. Was he going to kiss him again? Was it a Keith-bye thing? He stood there awkwardly, not daring to lean any closer or further away in fear it’d be misunderstood. Shit, he was terrified.

“Well, see you on Sunday, right?”

“Yeah, promised.”

“Awesome, until then!”

And Keith put down his board and rode away.

Goddammit, Keith.

-

“Huuuuunk.”

Hunk turned his chair around to look at Lance. A single glance told him everything he needed to know.

“You didn’t tell him, did you.”

“He didn’t kiss me! How am I supposed to know if he likes me if he didn’t kiss me now?”

“You were supposed to tell him  _ before _ he was leaving, not  _ after _ . If he had kissed you again, we’d have the same problem.”

Lance draped himself over his own chair across from Hunk. He radiated misery. At least, he hoped he did. He felt like a tragic heroine. In a manly way, though.

“Come on, it’s not easy. There was no time to bring it up, Keith didn’t mention it!”

“Well, did  _ you _ mention it?”

“No. Don’t make that face!” Lance sighed. “I know. I fucked up. He acted normal, I acted normal, and nothing happened.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Please tell me I’m not going to have another week of you glooming around all day, every day. I have two assignments due.”

“No way, we’re meeting up this Sunday. There’s this big-” He took out the flyer from his pocket. “They’re doing a fancy longboarding event. I told him I’d go.”

“You better. Am I invited to see you embarrass yourself?”

“I’m  _ not _ going to embarrass myself. I thought you said Keith liked me, anyway?”

“Oh, he does. But it won’t stop you from making a fool out of yourself. So, can I go?”

Lance balanced his odds. The risk of Hunk laughing at his red face and taking pictures wasn’t enough to offset the need of emotional support in case Keith rejected him. Plus, Lance knew there’d be no laughing or pictures if Keith did reject him. He needed that reassurance.

“Yes, you can come,” he said, sounding as defeated as he felt.

“ _ Awesome _ . I’ll prepare something to snack on to the sound of your pining.”

“Shut up, Hunk.”

“You love me.”

“I do. Now go back to working on your whatever. I need to start exfoliating now if I want to be ready before Sunday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to get this one out before S2 lmao such hurry
> 
> Special thanks to Sage-exe, Winterysomnium and Elsklov for the beta! (can you guys tell I was panicking)
> 
> As usual, you can hit me up to tell me about how mean I am to Lance on tumblr @varevare and twitter @shiroganbatte (I do it because I love him ok) thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My internship is over next week so with a bit of luck I'll be able to update this weekly until it's over :D

Black? No, not black. Keith always wore black. And he told Lance his helmet would match the one Lance got, so it’d be weird. Lance wanted to match, but it was too much. And more importantly, Lance looked like crap wearing all black. It made him look washed out instead of bring out his features like it did for Keith. Nope, black was out.

Blue was another terrible option. Nothing he got matched the helmet perfectly, all the shades were just a tad bit off. Meaning completely off.

“Lance, stop throwing your wardrobe all over my bed,” Hunk sighed. “I wanted to take a nap later.”

“It’s the afternoon, Hunk, hold it. I’d throw it over mine but it’s full already.”

“Soon enough your wardrobe is going to be empty and you’re going to have to start throwing clothes back in.”

“Hunk, come on, can’t you see I’m having a _crisis_?!” Lance threw his arms up in the air, each hand holding a different shirt. He was on his underwear and wearing only the helmet on his head. It spoke volumes of his friendship with Hunk the fact that he didn’t laugh at Lance’s current attire. “If this was a regular date I’d have it much easier. But I can’t wear a button down to ride boards in the park, now, can I?”

“Wait a moment. Keith asked you on a date?” Pidge chose that moment to throw the room’s door open and walk in. “Why did no one tell me?”

Lance screeched and covered himself with the shirts.

“Pidge! Close that door right now!”

“Oh, come on, you’re always shirtless in the summer,” Pidge huffed, rolling her eyes, but closed the door anyway. “Now, what’s that about your date?”

“Well.” Lance frowned down at the shirts again. “It’s not a date _date_ , you know.”

“Either it is or it isn’t.”

“I don’t know, okay?! It’s a public meet up, but he asked me to go and gave me a helmet matching his and he _kissed me last week_ so it has to be a date, right?” He looked at Hunk and Pidge for reassurance.

“That doesn’t sound particularly date-y, you know,” Pidge replied, then she saw the way Lance’s face fell and Hunk’s glare. “But I don’t know a lot about the whole _dating_ thing. And, well, I’m pretty sure Keith wants to tap your flat ass, so there’s that.”

“Really?” Lance let out a breath. “I mean, I knew that. Of course. Who wouldn’t.”

“Me” Pidge offered.

“For starters, that’d be gross,” Lance snapped at her. “And you’re not helping."

“What would be helping, in your opinion?”

Lance presented her with the t-shirts.

“Which one?”

 

* * *

 

Of course, at the end, Lance was late. It wasn’t exactly his fault. Pidge had kept roasting all his fashion choices, and there was no way he was going to show up at the meet up looking anything less than stunning. The sweatshirt he ended up deciding on was definitely not declared to be “stunning” by his friends, but the skinny jeans he picked definitely made his ass look stunning and that’d have to be enough.

Afterwards, he had to clean up all the clothes he had strewn around the room, and his friends refused to help. As such, he was a whole hour late, even though he practically flew to the park. He had exactly zero messages from Keith asking where he was. It didn’t give him a good feeling. He did, however, have a text from Hunk saying ‘go get your boy’, so he took a deep breath and went to look for a messy black mullet in the sea of people. His cheap board got a couple of dismissive glances, so he held onto it tightly. He recognized a couple of people from the first time he’d seen Keith, the ones sneering at him, and he was close to bolting when he located Shiro standing near the fountain.

Wherever Shiro was, Keith had to be closeby.

Sadly, being a smoking hot pillar of a man, there were at least a dozen people gathered around Shiro begging for his attention. Lance waved at him from afar, still trying to see if Keith was anywhere around, but-

Yeah, it had been a bad idea to show up there. Even if Keith didn’t mind him hanging around as much anymore, Lance still stuck out like a sore thumb in there. He wished he’d had the sense to buy a couple of shirts from a decent brand like everyone else around was wearing. Right now, however, he was just an outsider attempting to mingle with the cool guys, and the cool guys didn’t want him there.

“Lance! I’m happy to see you came,” a softly accented voice said behind him. Lance turned and saw Allura, her white hair practically shining like a beacon. “Are you looking for Keith?”

“Hey, Allura.” Lance attempted to smile. It was a bit difficult to do while ignoring the glares he was getting from all the cool-looking guys who clearly wanted to get Allura’s attention in his place. “Yeah, I’m a bit lost. This place’s quite busy, huh?”

“Yes, it’s been a while since the last meet up. Everyone was dying to have another one.” Allura smiled. “How are you liking it?”

“I guess I’m liking it well enough.” Lance evaded the question, glancing to the people around them. “Hey, so, have you seen Keith?”

“Yeah, he was talking to the dealers. I think some brand is offering to sponsor him again.” Allura noticed the way Lance’s face fell. “Oh, don’t worry, it’s not like, a formal meeting. They’re probably just taking some pics. I’m sure he’ll love to see you.”

“Oh, okay.” Lance straightened his back and smiled in a way he hoped looked more confident than he felt. “I’m just going to say hi, I don’t think I’ll be staying long. Say hi to Shiro for me, will you?”

“Are you sure? There’s going to be a contest in a bit. I thought you’d like to try it out? Show those moves Keith’s been teaching you?”

Allura’s encouraging smile only made Lance feel even worse.

“Sorry, I don’t have a lot of time today. I just wanted to pop by and say hi, since Keith invited me and, you know, stuff.”

“That’s alright then. I’m sure Keith will love to see you came. He was in a small road behind the main boulevard, do you know that one?”

Lance nodded. “Yep, thanks, Allura. Have fun!”

“You too!” She patted Lance’s shoulder and headed towards Shiro. The group surrounded her parted to let her pass. It was amazing to see her move so smoothly in that atmosphere, like she belonged. Unlike Lance.

The road Keith was at was the one he’d used to practice with Lance. Lance had almost started to call it _their_ road, because, despite the lack of light and the cracks on the pavement, no one ever came by but them.

Except now it was full of more _cool_ people Lance couldn’t help but resent.

Keith was posing next to a tree. He didn’t even have a board nearby. He obviously didn’t need to. Just his face was enough to sell anything.

Shit, Lance had fallen hard for him.

“Lance!” Keith had seen him. It was a bit late to bolt now. “So you came after all!”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” Having been put in the spotlight, Lance was forced to walk up to Keith. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your photoshoot.”

“Oh, that’s fine. Right, guys?” Keith asked, barely glancing at the cameraman and the rest of the staff. Lance wasn’t sure what they were there for, but it was obvious they didn’t agree with Keith’s statement much. “You wore your helmet! It looks great on you.”

“Yeah.” Lance glanced at Keith’s head. “You’re not.”

“Oh, sorry.” Keith pulled the helmet he was wearing off his head. “This is just for the pictures. It’s not the one I brought. That one’s the same as yours, just red. It’s over there, see?” He pointed to the ground, where a helmet rested next to a tree, with no one paying it any attention.

“Makes sense.” Lance grinned. “Sorry, I’m just here to say hi. I gotta go soon. Nice meet up, though. Looks fun.”

“What? No way, you can’t leave yet.” Keith grabbed Lance’s wrist as if to physically stop him from leaving. Lance was glad it wasn’t his hand, he knew it had to be dripping sweat. “Come on, I’m going to introduce you.”

Lance planted his feet on the ground.

“No, Keith, I’m serious. I have to get going,” he insisted, but he could feel his resolve weakening under Keith’s gaze.

“Please?”

“...maybe for a bit,” he relented, because Keith was pretty, and he’d kissed Lance, and they hadn’t talked about it yet but Keith probably liked him and Lance wanted to kiss him again.

“Awesome.” Keith smiled and immediately pulled him towards a vaguely menacing guy.

He was taller than Lance, and so he immediately hated him.

“Hey, Sendak, this is my friend, Lance. He’s a cool dude.”

“Hello.” Lance offered his hand before drying it lightly on his pants. Sendak didn’t take it.

“Charmed. Keith, we need the pictures for today.”

“I know, but come on, we have all day.” Keith pouted. “Sorry, Lance, I’ll be done in a second. You don’t mind waiting, right, Lance?”

Lance practically flinched. “I guess I can go elsewhere for now. Didn’t want to bother you guys.”

“It’ll be just a minute, I swear,” Keith insisted, patting his shoulder. “I’ll text you when I’m done.”

So Lance wasn’t even supposed to be nearby during the photos. Peachy. Where was he supposed to go, then?

“Sounds good. Good luck with the pictures,” Lance muttered.

It wasn’t a date.

Keith wasn’t even flirting.

Keith didn’t want him around.

Suddenly, Lance really, _really_ needed to get out of there.

He walked out of the road, wanting to kick himself for ever thinking of it as _theirs_ . Whoever _they_ might be in that scenario, Lance sure as hell wasn’t included.

And yet, he had promised Keith he would stay, so he managed to find an empty bench and waited there. He held his board between his legs, hiding most of himself behind it, and waited.

And waited.

He wrote a lot of texts he ended up deleting before sending for the first half hour, then spent the other half mindlessly playing FeeDog on his phone.

The sky was getting darker by the time he got a text from Keith.

    (19:36) **Keith:** I’m all done here, where are you?

    (19:36) **Lance:** _[location sent]_

    (19:37) **Keith:** Great

    (19:37) **Keith:** I’ll be right there

“Lance!”

Lance looked up to see Keith walking over. The amount of people seemed to have cleared up a bit as time went.

“Hey. How did it go?”

“Oh, you know how it is.” Lance didn’t. “The companies are pretty strict with their image, so we need to do a lot of takes. It pays well, though. But I’m sorry it took so long.” Keith sat next to Lance, trying to peek into his face. “How have you been? Met a lot of people?”

“Ah, yeah. Everyone’s pretty cool.” Lance glanced at Keith. They were sort of alone, and as stupid as it was, he started to get his hopes up. “What are you doing now?”

“There’s gonna be a contest. I think I’ll check it out.” Keith sat back, closer to Lance than before. “What about you? Can you stay for a bit longer?”

“Of course.” He turned towards Keith. He could practically count his eyelashes. “You changed helmets.”

“Oh, yeah.” Keith grinned, leaning closer conspiratorially. “We finally do match.”

“We do. Looks good on you.”

Keith laughed. “Thank you. It’s a bit weird to be wearing one, but it’s cool to match with my buddy. We make a good team, don’t you think?” He ended the remark fistbumping Lance’s shoulder. “Come on, dude, we’re gonna be late to the contest.”

“...I don’t want to go.”

Keith blinked. “What? But you just said you’d stay for it.”

“I’ve changed my mind. I’m tired.” More exactly, he was trying not to cry, but he couldn’t exactly tell Keith that.

“You don’t have to participate, come on.” Keith reached for Lance’s arm. Lance shook him off.

“Stop playing with me already!” Lance hated how broken his voice sounded at that moment. “First you say you want me to come here, then you ignore me for the whole meet up, then you show up and act flirty again, then call me _dude_ ?! You _kissed_ me!” He stood up, stepping away from Keith. “You can’t treat me like this! I’m done with you!”

“I- I did what?!”

“I don’t want to listen to your excuses. If you kiss all your _buddies_ , fine, but I want nothing to do with that. I want nothing to do with _you_.”

He turned around to see a small group had gathered nearby, everyone staring and gossiping about them. Lance wouldn’t mind if lightning struck him right there and then. He’d be done with this whole thing at least. Grabbing his board, he walked past the group, heading straight to his dorm. The tears didn’t start running down his cheeks until he was past the park’s gates. He counted that as his sole win of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who showed up at the stream and extra thanks to sage-exe for the beta and to winterysomnium for actually brainstorming this whole fic with me!
> 
> As usual, you can hit me up at @varevare on tumblr or @shiroganbatte on twitter!
> 
> Edit: dunno why there's another notes under these notes please pay them no mind.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suffering(TM)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your comments they give me life
> 
> And special shout-out to sage-exe for the beta!!!

Hunk looked up from his laptop when he heard the door open. Lance was back, and even though he wasn't one for gossip, Hunk couldn't repress the urge to drill him for details. After all, he'd been enduring Lance’s pining for weeks now. He deserved to reap the fruits of his labor.

“How did it go?” He asked in a sing song voice, closing the lid.

Lance didn't look up, dropping the board on the floor and throwing himself on his bed, fully dressed.

Well. That was slightly out of character, but Lance was often dramatic. Hunk knew better than to let himself be taken aback by it.

“Lance, come on, don't leave me empty handed. I deserve all the details.” He sat next to Lance. “Did you kiss?”

“No, Hunk, we did not kiss!” Lance snapped, sitting up on the bed. His eyes were watery, and it twisted Hunk’s stomach in knots. “And even if he did, turns out it doesn't mean anything. He just kisses people willy nilly, makes them think he's interested, smiles at them, pays them attention and makes them feel special just to-” 

Lance’s voice cracked and he fell silent, trying to repress the sobs. As dramatic as he might be at times, Hunk was all too aware Lance didn't just cry for any reason. And even when he cried, it wasn't like this. Loud wails at the tv screen was one thing. Curling up on himself, the whimpers shaking his frail looking body... It was painful to look at.

“He doesn't like me. I thought he liked me, I was so sure- none of his friends can stand me either, I was such an idiot...”

“Oh, Lance...” Hunk put his arms around Lance. It was a poor comfort, but he needed to do something. Protect him from the world. “They're all idiots if they can't see what they're missing. I'll knock some sense into their heads.”

“Don't, they didn't even do anything. I just jumped to conclusions,” Lance replied, his voice muffled against Hunk’s shoulder. “Keith wasn't mean. He's just not in love with me. Can't blame him, I wouldn't be either.”

“I'm gonna knock some sense into  _ your _ head if you keep talking like that,” Hunk grumbled.

“Sorry,” Lance sighed, relaxing against Hunk’s hold. “It's just. He sees me as a friend. Another buddy to hang out with.”

A minute passed as the words sunk in, and with them, the depth of Lance’s heartbreak.

“...I'm sorry, Lance.”

“It's fine,” Lance replied weakly.

It wasn't. Hunk might not be perfect at reading people, but he could've seen Keith crushing on Lance from miles away. It made no sense for Lance to be holding onto Hunk with a broken heart instead of making out with his new boyfriend in the park. Hunk was definitely going to ask for an explanation at the very least.

“Can you believe he called me buddy?” Lance added after a while. “That's so uncool.”

Hunk snorted and released Lance. “That's because he's not  _ that _ cool.”

“...He's pretty cool, though,” Lance insisted, sitting back.

“He's not. The Rock is cool.”

“Well,  _ no one _ can measure up to the Rock. It's not a fair comparison.” Lance rubbed at his eyes, but for the first time since he arrived Hunk could see a weak smile in his face. “Can we watch a movie today or something?”

“We can even marathon movies all night. I'll call Pidge, tell her to bring ice cream and fries.”

“Chunky monkey?”

“Chunky monkey.”

 

* * *

Everything was wrong. Horribly wrong. Keith couldn't pinpoint exactly where or when. It was a long list of events, each of which added to the disaster that was that afternoon.

He didn't run after Lance when he left. If Keith wasn't an idiot, he could have caught up with him, fall to his knees and confess his feelings like in those cheesy movies he ended up watching that one time he broke his leg. He’d watched so many, he had no excuse, besides the fact that he was completely useless at romance.

Keith didn't react at all until everyone who had witnessed the scene was swarming around him, blocking Lance from view. It took him a minute too long to come back to his senses, and by then, Lance was long gone. Some people were freaking out, wondering where had that crazy guy come from and how dare he talk to Keith like that. Others, less loud, were asking if what Lance had said is true, and if he had really kissed him.

It was, of course. Keith hadn't been sure until that moment. He could remember a wisp of it the morning after the kiss, so faint he was sure it was just traces from a dream. Embarrassingly enough, it wouldn't have been the first time he'd kissed Lance in his dreams, after all. Unlike dreams, however, the memory became more solid as time went on, instead of fading away. It made his stomach spin and drop like it was falling downhills every time he saw Lance. But Keith, of course, shrugged it off. 

Yet another mistake.

He was barely aware of the people around him as he shoved them away, determined to follow after Lance. Lance, who was completely out of sight. Lance, who lived somewhere in that giant campus, maybe, probably, and whose room number Keith had never bothered to ask for.

Just another mistake to add to the list. Keith didn't consider himself to be a person who was usually wrong, but clearly Lance brought a different side of him. A foolish side that called his crush  _ buddy _ and  _ dude _ and made him storm away crying because Sendak got him distracted taking some nonsensical photos for some campaign Keith couldn’t care less about.

Stupid photos, stupid Sendak, stupid helmets, stupid kiss, stupid Keith.

He slammed the door to the apartment open.

“Shiro!” he yelled, hoping he didn’t sound as desperate as he did to his own ears.

Shiro peeked over at Keith from the sofa, obviously not expecting the violent arrival.

“Keith? You're back early. Did you see Lance? Allura told me he was looking for you.”

“I kissed him,” Keith replied in a rush of breath.

Shiro immediately grinned at him.

“Finally! We were about to start bets on when it would happen.” Then his face fell when he noticed Keith's blank expression. “...Did it not go well?”

“Shiro, I-” Keith faltered at the doorstep, finally closing the door and walking over. He sat next to Shiro in silence, staring at nowhere. “I fucked it up. I need Lance’s room number to go find him.”

“Keith, what happened?” Shiro pressed, his voice more urgent than before.

Before he could say another word, Allura came out from the bathroom.

“Keith, is everything alright? I heard the-”

Keith looked between her and Shiro, smiling for a moment. He couldn’t pass up that chance.

“Shiro, I can't believe you brought Allura over to make out. That's rude. You didn't even tell me.”

“That's not-” 

“We thought you-” they stammered at the same time.

Keith got some satisfaction from the way they blushed from the teasing. A very small amount of satisfaction, given the current circumstances, but still appreciated nonetheless.

“-we were sure you were going to stay with Lance after the meet up ended,” Allura explained weakly.

“Ugh. Fine, never mind,” Keith snapped, standing up. There went his good mood. Now he was sorry he even asked.

He turned away, ready to lock himself up in his room, when Allura gently pushed him down from his shoulders to sit on the sofa. It was barely enough for the three of them, despite how narrow Allura and Keith were, and Keith found himself effectively sandwiched between the other two. Keith wasn't the biggest fan of physical contact, but the occasion seemed to call for it, so he allowed it. He let himself fall back against the pillows with only minimal grumbling.

“Will you tell us what happened now? I'm sure between the three of us we can find a way to fix things.” Allura was looking at him ever so gently, it was impossible to close himself up like he wanted to. Instead, Keith found himself spilling everything out.

“I kissed Lance last week when he walked me home, then forgot about it and kept trying to act normal. I didn't pay him any attention so he wouldn't notice I like him, and Lance thought I was playing with his feelings and using him and got mad at me,” he said in a single rush of breath. He felt lightheaded when he finished.

Everyone fell silent a minute. Then Shiro smacked him upside the head.

“Ouch, Shiro, what the f-” Keith started to say, glaring at Shiro while trying to fix his hair back down.

“Don't kiss people while you’re drunk, you dumbass,” Shiro huffed at him, crossing his arms over the wide chest. “Why didn't you explain on the spot?”

“I couldn't think of anything on the spot, I froze up! And then he ran away!” Keith snapped. “I wanted to go look for him after, but I don't know where he lives, that's why I came here asking-”

“You should've told him much earlier that you like him, to begin with. It's been completely obvious for ages-”

“Shiro, tone it down. I'm sure he's blaming himself enough already,” Allura cut them, pushing Shiro away over Keith’s head. “ And Keith, calm down. Why don't you call him now? I got you his number, remember?”

Keith glared weakly at her.

“I'm still mad about you taking my phone,” he grumbled.

“Sure are. Come on, call him now,” she urged him. 

Reluctantly, Keith picked up his phone and found Lance’s number. His stomach twisted in knots, but he hit the call button under Allura’s encouraging smile.

It rang once, then twice, then got hung up.

Surprised, he tried it again, and this time the call got cut off immediately. Third time was the same. He didn't notice he had started to tear up until he saw Shiro’s panicked face and Allura holding a tissue in front of him.

“He hates me,” Keith whined, letting his hand fall down on his lap. He considered throwing his phone out of the window.

“I think-”

“I think you should prepare us some tea,” Allura cut, giving Shiro a level look. Shiro seemed to think better of whatever he had planned to say and slipped away to the kitchen area. After he was gone, Allura sat back on the sofa and held Keith's hands, gently taking the phone from him. “Keith, I'm sure he doesn't hate you. If he's upset because he thinks you played with his feelings, that means he  _ obviously  _ has feelings for you and thinks you don't care. That’s not hate, that’s heartbreak. You never told him you like him, did you?”

Keith shook his head. It all sounded so reasonable when Allura said it.

“I already know I fucked up. What am I supposed to do now?” He wasn’t sure if he was asking Allura or himself anymore.

“He's  _ heartbroken _ , Keith,” Allura repeated. “He thinks you don't care for him at all, how would you feel?”

“Awful. But I feel awful now, anyway,” he replied moodily.

Allura, to Keith's surprise, laughed.

“You're so  _ dramatic _ . You two are made for each other.” Allura peeked into Keith’s face, pushing his bangs away. She was still smiling. “See, this has an easy fix. He  _ likes _ you, and you  _ like _ him, you lucky boy. You just need to inform him of this little fact.”

“Do you know Lance’s room number?”

“...No.”

“He's not picking up my calls,” Keith complained. “I don't know what else to do.”

“I don't think he wants to talk to anyone right now. Take it easy. I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're smart.”

Keith huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back against the sofa again.

“Yeah, not feeling too smart right now.”

“Stop acting like a baby,” Shiro cut back into the conversation, setting two steaming mugs down on the small coffee table in front of them. “Allura is right. You're two dumbasses in love. It'll fall by its own weight, don’t overthink it.”

“ Of course you’d think Allura is right. What if he never picks up the phone ever again? What if he doesn't show up at the park, or I never see him on campus... Oh my god, I don't even know his surname,” Keith replied, panic rising on his stomach.

“How can you not know your crush’s surname, oh no, you'll never see him again now,” Shiro deadpanned. Allura kicked him in the shin and picked up her mug.

“Keith, it's the 21st century. You got common friends. You can find him easily. It's not like you have a big social presence or anything in any sort of site he frequents, huh?” She took a sip. “You know. He can avoid calls, but he can't avoid youtube’s recommendations based on his watching history.” She smiled brilliantly at him over the mug.

Keith was silent for a moment as the words sunk in.

“Allura, you're a genius.”

“I know. Now go get your boy.”

“I will.” He rushed into his room. “Shiro, grab a jacket, we're going out!”

He heard Shiro complain weakly about the tea getting cold as he grabbed his old videocamera, but he couldn’t care less. He had something to hope for again.

 

* * *

“Do you think the lighting here will be enough?”

Shiro peeked into the Taco Bell, doubtful.

“Well, it's 11pm, I don't think we're going to find anything better. We can get some drinks and sit in one of the booths at the back.”

Keith glanced around the street before nodding.

“Sounds good. Want me to buy them while you set the camera?”

Shiro tossed Keith his wallet with a smile and opened the door. “Way ahead of you. Don’t make me wait too long.”

Five minutes later, they were sitting down, Shiro holding the microphone awkwardly while staying out of the small video camera’s view. Keith leaned over the table to fiddle with it.

“You think it's going to work fine?”

“Yeah, we used this one all the time before we met Shay, come on.” Shiro smiled at him.

“Fine, fine, I'm just nervous.” Keith puffed his cheeks out. “...you're not still mad, are you?”

“I'm not- I wasn't mad.” Shiro glanced down at the camera, adjusting the tripod with his free hand. He seemed embarrassed. “I really, really want you to be happy, Keith. And you've been so  _ dumb _ about this.”

Keith glared at him over the table.

“Shiro, come on-”

“I'm serious, though. That boy loves you, and you know it,” Shiro insisted.

“And Allura loves _you_ , yet here we are,” Keith huffed. “It's not that easy.”

“It's not the same! Allura doesn't...” Shiro seemed to shrink. “ We’re friends. If I kissed her she'd probably stop talking to me.”

“And you call  _ me  _ dumb. Shiro, you're a coward,” Keith stated. At least bickering with Shiro was taking his mind off his current problems.

“It's  _ not the same _ at all, Keith. You practically got things handed over in a silver plate, as far as Lance goes.”

“Allura  _ likes you _ , Shiro. She’s got the most obvious crush I’ve ever seen. Well, would have, if if I didn’t know you.” Keith sat up straighter. “Listen, if I can make a video confessing to Lance -who, should I remind you, currently hates me- you can take a leap and tell Allura you like her once and for all.”

Shiro frowned, face red, and didn't reply. Keith leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms. He wasn’t going to give up on this.

“Shiro, come  _ on _ .”

“...Fine,” Shiro finally relented. “I... I'll try.”

“Great. Because I've been recording the whole time, and if you don't tell her I'll show her this conversation,” Keith replied with a grin. He wouldn't, but Shiro needed the push. And he was about to confess to Lance in front of millions of people. He was in a daring mood “You ready to start recording?”

“You're  _ so  _ lucky I love you, little bro,” Shiro complained. He might be a couple of shades paler than he had been at the beginning of the conversation.

He’d recover soon. Probably.

“I know you do.” Keith smiled.

“Count of three, then. One...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On one hand, yeah, this took longer than I said it would, it was my birthday sue me ;c
> 
> On the other, both this AND the next chapter are completed, so you guys won't have to wait long for the next update :3c it's gonna be awesome
> 
> You can find me @varevare on tumblr and @shiroganbatte on twitter!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance pls look at your phone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Valentine's day I HAD TO

Lance knew he was sulking. It was a favorite pastime of his after every rejection. Admittedly, he was being particularly intense about it at the moment, but he still didn't think anyone who knew him could possibly call it unusual. He'd been crushing hard on Keith and, more importantly, he thought Keith had felt the same. His hopes had been extraordinarily up. So, of course, it hurt a bit more than usual.

The Coldplay songs, blinds shut, and hiding under the bedsheets were the natural consequence of this.

Because of this, Lance couldn't understand why Hunk was there, trying to coax him out of bed instead of being off having fun somewhere. Lance only needed some time to cool of. They had watched three action flicks on a row, but eventually, Pidge had to leave and Hunk had to sleep. And, of course, since Lance was a dumbass, he stayed up watching Keith’s videos on his phones.

He might or might not have been crying on and off until he passed out.

Upon waking up, Lance found himself to be tired, grumpy, and not any happier than he was the previous night. And it was getting really, really hard to find distractions at that point. He only felt like listening to sad songs, and he _definitely_ didn’t want to show his face around campus.

“Dude, come on. I know you can hear me. No matter how loud you play it, you can't actually _blast_ a ballad.”

“It’s not a _ballad_ Hunk,” Lance protested, finally throwing the covers back. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes. The lack of sleep and mild dehydration were giving him a headache, and he squinted at the light coming through the window.

“You can’t stay here sulking all day, ballads or not. Come on, let’s go grab some food,” Hunk suggested, offering him a glass of water that Lance reached for gratefully. “It’ll do you good, you need to clear up your head a little.”

“I just need some time alone.” Lance drank from the glass in small sips, his eyes still lost somewhere near the window. “I haven’t even looked at my phone. Just the idea is giving me a headache.”

“Every time you say you want to be alone you get super clingy.” Hunk crossed his arms, trying to look stern. “You need to get out. I’m not going to let you sulk like this every time one of your crushes doesn’t end like you wanted it to.”

“I’m serious this time!” Lance snapped, glaring at Hunk. “I might run into him somewhere, he’s in the campus all the time. I don’t want to even see if he’s texted me.” Both options seemed terrifying. What if he had? What if he hadn’t?

“Lance, dude, you’ve known him for like, five, six weeks?” Hunk paused, his face twisted slightly. “Actually, that’s quite a bit for your standards.”

“Thanks, Hunk, that definitely cheered me right up,” Lance muttered. He finished his glass of water and set it down on the bedside table as he got up. “I guess you’re right. More mooning over Keith isn’t going to help.”

“Hell yeah, I am.” Hunk set his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “You sure you’re okay, though? If you still need a moment-”

Lance laughed. It sounded strained even to himself, but not as broken as the night before. “Come on, weren’t you the one who wanted to get me out of here? Let’s go grab some breakfast.” He hugged Hunk with one arm and went to turn off his phone’s playlist. He noticed there were a number of notifications on it, but no messages from Keith. After glaring at it for a moment, he set it down and went to grab some clothes.

 

* * *

 

Even Hunk had to admit, there was a strange mood in the dorm building. They were just walking to the cafeteria and back, but as two students wearing comfortable clothes on a Sunday morning, they were attracting way too much attention than it seemed reasonable. Lance, usually, would have loved the chance to chat up some new people, but he didn’t even feel up to wink at the cute girls who kept pointing at him.

It wasn’t everyone, of course. The staff couldn’t have cared less about him if he’d stayed in his room, and many people just acknowledged his existence as they would have any other day. Still, Lance kept getting the feeling that something was off.

The feeling only increased when Lance noticed Hunk’s phone kept buzzing. Hunk kept silencing it, never being one to get distracted by it during a meal with friends, but it was starting to distract _Lance_.

“Hunk, do you know what’s going on?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Hunk replied evasively, but he took out his phone to glance at it. “Pidge’s asking how are you doing and if you want to hang out again later. Shay keeps sending me a youtube link over and over, telling me I have to watch it. But I’m pretty sure it’s a cat video. She’s also asking if you’re okay, by the way.”

“Ugh. Of course.” Lance let his head rest on top of the table. He’d been close to face planting his donut, but decided the dramatism wasn’t really worth a donut and the damage to his skin. “I guess Keith already told her what a pathetic idiot I am. Actually, why don’t you open that link? I’m going to need a lot of cats to cheer up.”

“Stop speaking like that, I can’t hear you if you’re talking to your feet.”

Lance turned his head to the side to stare up at Hunk pitifully. “Kittens, Hunk. I need them.”

“Kittens can wait, Lance. I’m almost out of batteries anyway, and you need to eat.” Hunk pocketed his phone again and grabbed his shake. “Should I tell Pidge we’re meeting up?”

“Sure, why not,” Lance replied with a small shrug, sitting back up. He took a big bite off his donut. “I wanna shower first, though.”

“Ew, Lance, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Hunk complained, scrunching up his nose. “So, since you’re showering, two hours from now, huh?”

“Hey! I don’t take two hours,” Lance protested, pouting. He finished his donut and stood up. “It’s just like, half an hour, tops. I’m going to be done before you come back, you’ll see.”

“Sure, sure,” Hunk replied, waving him off with a smile. “Have a nice one.”

Waving back at Hunk, Lance turned around and started to make his way back to his room. Somehow, without anyone at his side, he felt more exposed to the occasional glances he got. They weren’t hostile, just neutral and, apparently, very, very interested. He felt himself shrink under them, and he quickened the pace back to his room.

He meant to head straight to the bathroom, but the insistent buzzing from his phone made him stop in his tracks. He should at least silence it properly, otherwise the battery wouldn’t last long. Clear the notifications since he was at it.

    **(11:08) Pidge:** hey Lance are you okay?

    **(11:09) Pidge:** want me to kick your ass in mario kart?

Smiling, Lance started to type out a short reply, but the phone buzzed again before he could finish.

    **(12:41) Pidge:** oh my god tell me you saw that vid

Confused, he scrolled up. He couldn’t see any link from the conversation. He went to check if he’d gotten a link on some other application, and saw the 53 messages waiting from Shay. Damn. Alright, he could definitely check those later.

Shoving the notifications away with a flick of his thumb -spam, spam, updated apps, instagram likes, nothing he cared about. He paused when he got to the youtube one. He’d been getting surprisingly good music suggestions lately through it, maybe he’d play some while in the shower. Reflexively, he clicked. The bright neons on the thumbnail distracted him from the title. He was convinced it was a music video until it was playing.

“'This is not a longboarding video’? Great. Just what I needed. I don’t want to watch any of this,” he grumbled. He knew it was his own fault for spending the night watching Keith’s channel, but that wouldn’t stop him from resenting the site.

Even so, he couldn’t stop his breath from catching when he came face to face with Keith.

Figuratively, because Keith was in front of a camera and this was not a live video. However, it was the first time he’d seen Keith look into the camera directly in his videos. His eyes were as dark and deep as Lance remembered, and he felt himself drowning in them.

It was just another video. He’d watched like, fifty of them the night before. He could watch this one, too.

It wouldn’t change anything.

He hit the play button.

“Hey, guys.” Keith looked at the camera through his bangs, smiling nervously. It was utterly adorable, and made Lance’s heart ache. Fuck. He was nowhere close to getting over Keith. “I guess you’re all working what this is all about, huh? Yeah, this is not a liveblog, even though everyone’s been asking for it for ages. This is actually a personal message to-” Keith’s voice seemed to waver for a second, and he cleared his throat.

The whole video stuck out as strange. Glancing at the background, he realized the weird lights he’d seen belonged to the Taco Bell near the public library. The video itself wasn’t particularly good. It had none of the usual effects Keith’s channels had made him expect, and the camera seemed to be having a bad time dealing with the poor lighting.

Keith’s face, of course, didn’t. He managed to look ethereal and perfect and Lance sat down on the floor. Keith had just said his name, and Lance’s legs would no longer hold him.

“-a message for Lance. Lance, I’m sorry about today.” Keith’s look was open and desperate, and he seemed to be looking directly at Lance through the screen. And he was. He was talking _to_ Lance. “I was an idiot to not follow behind you. Last week, too. I shouldn't have kissed you.”

Yeah, that was the sound of Lance’s heart breaking all over again. He felt frozen in place, though, and unable to stop watching.

“No. Fuck. That’s not what I meant!” Keith continued immediately. He ran a hand through his hair. Someone tutted at him off screen, and Keith glared at some point outside the camera’s focus before looking back at it. “I should’ve kissed you ages ago! And not in a stupid impulse I wouldn’t remember. I wanted to ask you out properly, court you, take you to watch dumb movies and walk in the park together without the excuse of teaching you anything.” Keith’s shook his head, seemingly at himself. His hair stuck out in odd angles now. Lance’s mind latched onto that, because his brain couldn’t process what was happening.

“Lance, I love spending time with you. You’re so headstrong, and funny, and handsome, and sweet, and hell I think I’m in love with you,” Keith rushed out. Immediately, he hid his face behind his hands, and this time, Lance noticed how red the spots that were visible seemed to be. “I’m sorry I fucked this up this evening. I really, really like you,” he continued, peeking at the camera and slowly lowering his hands. “And, from what you said, I suspect you might, maybe, like me too, a bit. So, will you please give me another chance? Please, Lance. Call me?”

The video ended straight with Keith’s pleading look. It was completely unnecessary and over the top, of course. Lance’s heart had already been set the moment Keith said he’d wanted to kiss him and date him.

As if there could ever have been any doubt of what Lance’s answer could be.

With shaky hands and the widest grin on his face, Lance scrolled through the phone for Keith’s number and hit the call button.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith: *picks up immediately* Lance??  
> Lance: aww baby you have a crush on me? embarrasing *sobbing loudly *
> 
> -
> 
> YEAH so I hope everyone enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it! There's just gonna be a short epilogue after this and it should be up in a day or two. Thank you everyone for the support so far! Stay tuned for my next Klance fic because of course I've started getting ideas before even finishing this.
> 
> Also, thanks to winterysomnium for brainstorming with me and sage-exe for the beta! Couldn't have made it without your help
> 
> You can also find me on tumblr @varevare or twitter @shiroganbatte!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dumb boys in love, that's all there is to say.

“Is it recording?”

“No, I don’t think it is, the red light is off.”

Keith walked over and joined Lance behind the tripod, trying to read the camera’s instructions over his shoulder. The couple of inches Lance had on him were enough for this to be a complicated task, however, so he pulled Lance’s hands down to have a better look at it. It still sent a thrill down his back to be able to just touch Lance so casually, and it hadn’t lost a drop of its appeal even as the months went by. Months he had spent touching Lance as often as he could. Keith grinned as he leaned against his boyfriend’s arm to read the small print.

“I don’t know why you insist we use Shay’s fancy camera. We’re hopeless at this,” he teased Lance, setting his hand on the crook of Lance’s elbow to force him to keep still. “My old camera would’ve worked fine.”

“Your old camera is a grainy mess and I won’t have my official introduction to your followers to be done in it. I need to look my best, and that includes Shay’s fancy camera.” Lance pushed his head lightly against Keith’s, mussing up his hair.

“If I recall correctly, you liked my last video on it just fine.” Keith flipped a page casually as he sneaked a glance at Lance’s profile. The slight dusting of pink across his cheeks was completely worth it. “I’m well aware half those views are from you alone.”

“Keith, my sun and stars, light of my life, you’re tragically mistaken. I liked  _ you _ on that video. Your production skills were still dreadful. It looked like one of those blurry videos people try to use to prove the existence of cryptids.”

“Hey, those videos are perfectly valid,” Keith huffed even as he felt his own face burn red. “You sure are turning the charm up today, huh.”

“What can I say.” Lance smiled wide as he walked around the camera to lean on it, right in front of Keith. “In this context,  _ I’m _ the cryptid, and this is my big reveal. Need to make the wait worth it.”

As much as Lance hadn’t been sure about it at first, when Keith had finally managed to convince him to star in a video with him, he’d decided to go all out. Keith knew, even if it had taken him too long to realize, that Lance hadn’t been sure of what place he occupied on Keith’s priorities, between his posse and his fans. Keith’s video confession had been a risky move, and he hated to admit it, but he knew it could’ve ended badly. Specially, if people had gotten hold of Lance before he did.

However, his ballsy move turned out great. Keith had gotten both a boyfriend and twenty thousand new followers overnight. Turns out people like drama even more than his  _ sweet moves _ , as Lance called them. And it turned out that Lance absolutely  _ adored _ being the mysterious boy that had swooped Keith off his feet and caused said drama in the first place.

The tension had even managed to make Shiro snap and confess to Allura not one week later. Keith insisted it had been all his own doing, even if Lance wanted to claim at least half the credit for the relationship. And yeah, even if they had been disgustingly adorable and domestic around Keith’s apartment ever since, it hadn’t been so hard to deal with when Keith had his own tall, dark and handsome boyfriend to fawn over.

Not that he’d ever admit it to Lance.

Of course, not everything was as good. Some people had thrown tantrums because Keith was no longer single. His own notifications had exploded overnight, and he’d definitely given up on answering everyone’s messages. Sendak’s brand had dropped his sponsorship because of his so called unprofessionalism. His old friends had stopped talking to him and asking to hang out once they realized Keith had no interest on his cool longboarder image.

Oh, who was he kidding. He’d been happy to get rid of all that, too. And even if things hadn’t been as good, looking at Lance’s soft smile under the early spring’s sun made every inconvenience absolutely worth it.

On impulse, Keith leaned closer to peck the other boy.

“What was that for?” Lance asked him, blinking adorably.

“Nothing. You’re cute.”

“What-” Lance sputtered, standing back up and covering his face with one hand. “I’m supposed to be the charming one today, not you. It’s my big reveal!”

“Then you’ll have to step your game up,” Keith laughed. “I’m not gonna lower my level for a noob.”

“Oh, I’ll show you who’s a noob,” Lance replied, always ready for a challenge as he circled the camera once again to press against Keith.

Half an hour later, they were still rolling around the grass together, having long forgotten about the video. Keith laughed against Lance’s hair as the other pressed soft kisses down his throat.

“Lance, I thought you were excited about your big reveal. We look like a mess now,” he said even as he relaxed onto his back.

Lance sat up to look down to him. His carefully styled hair stuck on odd directions from Keith’s ministrations, his shirt was rumpled and full of green stains and his lips were swollen from the kissing. In Keith’s opinion, it was an excellent look on him, but he knew it wasn’t the aesthetic Lance was aiming for. From Lance’s look, he knew he had to look about the same.

“Well, shit.” He ran a hand through his hair, finding a small stick tangled on it. After making a face at it, he threw it in the camera’s direction. “At least no one saw us, I guess.”

“I think if someone had been around we wouldn’t have noticed,” Keith admitted, sitting up next to Lance. He pondered his odds of getting Lance to keep making out with him, since they’d obviously wouldn’t be recording anything that day after all.

“That’s where you’re wrong. If someone had seen us, the camera would no longer be here,” Lance replied, pointing with his thumb at their abandoned set up. “And then Shay would murder us.”

“Cheerful,” Keith deadpanned even as he pushed Lance back to straddle him. He smiled when Lance’s hands automatically setted on his hips as if they belonged. “You know, I think we’re going to have to ask her for help. We can’t end up like this every time we borrow her camera.”

“It  _ is _ very difficult to use. She can’t blame us for not getting the instructions.” Lance shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

“It’s a bit hard to understand the instructions if you keep trying to make out with me.”

“ _ Trying _ , you say? I feel pretty successful right now.” Lance leaned up to nuzzle Keith’s jaw. “And you’re just as bad as me, admit it.”

Keith shivered and closed his eyes. “Alright, fine. We’ll ask her to record it tomorrow, I think she has time.”

“Eh, she adores these romantic things, she’ll probably make time. I’m sure she wouldn’t have let us her stuff otherwise.” Lance pecked Keith on the lips. “Pity, though. I wanted us to be the ones making this one.”

“Lance, you can’t even turn on the camera.”

“Neither can you. You hit that button accidentally.”

“You can prove nothing.” Keith returned Lance’s peck. “Pity you couldn’t learn video making as fast as you learned to ride on that board.”

“What can I say, I had a very good teacher.” Lance’s soft smile melted Keith’s insides. “Lucky me.”

“Lucky you,” Keith admitted, and leaned back down to kiss Lance. He could waste the rest of the afternoon arguing who exactly was the luckier of the two, but that was time that could be spent tasting Lance’s lips.

And, either way, it was an useless argument. Keith knew he’d won the lottery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THAT'S ALL, LOVES
> 
> First off, it's been LOVELY to write this fic, I've never had so much fun or so much encouragement. Special shout out to sage-exe and winterysomnium, but every single person who commented or just left kudos has been fantastic and I love you all.
> 
> Second, in case you couldn't tell, I've been restraining myself to keep this relatively PG lmao this is a pure and wholesome fic pls. The spice is gonna be in the next one. Which I've already started writing so stay tuned for that, if you'd like to see more of my Klance!!!
> 
> Third, and as usual, you can hit me up on tumblr at @varevare or twitter @shiroganbatte.
> 
> FOURTH: the amazing whatthebodygraspsnot wrote a remix of this fic for the voltron fanfic remix event, check it out [here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12243417)
> 
> Love you all!


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